Family of inmate stabbed to death in Fulton County Jail suing sheriff, county, detention officer

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - The family of a man murdered while in custody at the Fulton County Jail has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff, county government, and the detention officer who reportedly walked away when the attack happened. 

On Sept. 22, 2022, 33-year-old Dino Walker was reportedly stabbed multiple times and left bleeding on the floor by two inmates after a detention officer left his post for almost an hour, the family alleges.

Dino Walker's family files lawsuit

Wednesday, Walker's family and their attorneys are set to announce that they are suing the deputy allegedly involved in the incident, the Fulton County Sheriff, the county and the detention officer.

In their lawsuit, the family claims the deputy was negligent and failed to protect Walker.

"For years, Fulton County and Sheriff Labat have failed miserably in their oversight of the Fulton County Jail. Perhaps the federal investigation underway will finally force them to do their jobs and respect the constitutional rights and humanity of pretrial detainees like Dino Walker," attorney Harold W. Spence said.

The lawsuit claims Detention Officer Curt Muhammad stepped away from his post in a high-risk area of the jail. 

In 2023, attorneys told FOX 5 they had video footage of the murder that showed inmates seemingly unaffected by the act of violence.

Attorneys say this lawsuit is unique because it also names the Fulton County government as a defendant as well as Sheriff Labat, who they claim has misused the Inmate Welfare Fund that had millions of dollars in it.  The attorneys say Sheriff Labat's argument of not having the money to implement what he wants to do is not true. A county ordinance stipulates what the Inmate Welfare Fund is to be used for.  

"Sheriff LABAT took office in January 2021, and he admitted at the end of 2023, that he had never heard of the committee, that the committee that was supposed to supervise these funds had never once met," said Harold Spend, one of the attorneys representing the Walker family. 

Spence said Chairman Robb Pitts was not familiar with the committee either. He went on to say Labat used the Inmate welfare Fund as a personal slush fund to buy items that had nothing to do with the inmates.  

Dino Walker's family wants to ‘stop the blame game’ 

The family of Dino Walker says they want to end the blame game that the sheriff and the county commission play. They say both are responsible for the dangerous conditions at the Rice Street facility. 

Walker's mother had tears in her eyes as she talked about what happened to her son during a press conference on Wednesday. 

Her attorneys say this is a longstanding problem that desperately needs correcting.  

Walker's mother said she had just talked to her son when he was killed. Time has not healed a mother's pain. 

"I spoke with my son at 6 p.m. on September 22, and at 8 p.m. he was deceased. I received a phone call at 5 a.m. the next morning. a phone call to tell me that my son had been murdered. My son laid in his blood until 3 a.m. that morning before the guards even removed him from the floor," Walker's mother, Chandra Toland, said. 

Walker’s attorneys say both the Fulton County commission and Sheriff Patrick Labat are aware of how dangerous the jail is, but both have done nothing but play political ping pong with inmates' lives. 

"There have been so many deaths, so much destruction in this jail, that we believe that this is a viable claim against the county. Not just against the sheriff, not just against the deputy who walked away from his responsibility...from his post, but also the county as a whole," said Muwali Davis, who also represents the family.

The Walker family says Dino was previously attacked by multiple inmates in April and nothing was done.

FOX 5 reached out to the sheriff and the representatives for county government, but both declined to comment. 

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"While he was on the floor with blood pooling around him, violence had become so normalized at the Fulton County jail that other inmates simply walked around him, stepping over him, looking at him as some sort of oddity but without providing any assistance whatsoever," Spence said.

The family will provide more details on the lawsuit and the case during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Fulton County Jail safety concerns

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick "Pat" Labat" says there have been 10 stabbings at the jail since the start of June. The deplorable conditions at the jail are currently the subject of a Department of Justice investigation. 

Since 2022, at least 30 inmates have died at the jail. The sheriff says in that same period his team found more than 4,000 homemade weapons that were created from light fixtures and other jail infrastructure. He says a new facility would all but eliminate the problem. 

Overcrowding is one of the most significant issues. Inmates are often forced to sleep on the floor due to a lack of available beds, and personal space is virtually nonexistent, exacerbating stress and conflict within the population. The hygiene and sanitation standards at Fulton County Jail have also been widely criticized.

Labat has been pushing for a brand-new jail. However, the Fulton County Commission recently voted to spend $300 million on renovations to the jail instead of the estimated $2 billion to replace the jail.

Almost one year ago, the Department of Justice launched a probe into the conditions of the jail after several deaths were reported.

Families of deceased inmates and advocacy groups have long called for federal intervention, arguing that local efforts to address the problems have been insufficient. 

A state Senate subcommittee also launched its own investigation in fall 2024.