The Georgia Division of Corrections has began an investigation after Sheqweetta Vaughan, an inmate serving a two-year sentence at Lee Arrendale State Jail, was discovered useless in her single-person cell.
Vaughan was found useless and partially decomposed inside a single, scorching, poorly ventilated segregation cell on the morning of July 9.
Indicators like her physique’s decomposition recommend she could have died a lot earlier, the Atlanta Journal-Structure reported. Well being and coroner data point out Vaughan had given delivery six months earlier than her loss of life.
When Habersham County Deputy Coroner Kenneth Franklin arrived, the temperature in her cell was already within the 90s with little airflow. Franklin famous robust odors of decay and noticed decomposition. Proof of decay included “inexperienced ‘marbling’ on Vaughan’s arms and pores and skin slipping and blistering throughout her physique. There have been no seen indicators of bodily trauma or contraband.
Georgia’s corrections coverage requires officers to test on inmates in segregation no less than each half-hour. A pathologist talking with The Atlanta Journal-Structure mentioned the extent of decomposition noticed is inconsistent with that schedule
“That diploma of decomposition doesn’t come inside half-hour, inside an hour, or inside two hours,” he mentioned.
In his report, Franklin couldn’t pinpoint the precise time of loss of life because of the harsh circumstances of the power.
In keeping with jail incident logs, a neighboring prisoner reported listening to Vaughan name for medical assist round 6 a.m. on July 8. In keeping with the unidentified prisoner, no response adopted her requires help. The cellmate’s account and recorded checks present the physique was not reported till 10:45 a.m. the subsequent day.
The coroner’s report acknowledged Vaughan was discovered at 10:40 a.m., however Franklin was advised a welfare test was achieved by jail staff at 10:08 a.m.
In 2023, the Georgia Division of Corrections proposed closing Lee Arrendale State Jail, one of many oldest amenities inside the Georgia Division of Corrections (GDC). In keeping with NowHabersham, the plan would cshut the jail’s important items whereas conserving its 112-bed transitional middle operational.
The ability can be renamed the Lee Arrendale Transition Heart. Officers mentioned this would scale back the inmate inhabitants by roughly 1,000, with solely about 200 people remaining in transition. The plan additionally referred to as for retaining infrastructure like meals operations, farm work, hearth companies, and packing stations regardless of the downsizing.
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