Family shocked at grand jury decision not to indict officers in inmate’s death
Jailers not indicted in inmate's death
A grand jury decided not to indict six Clayton County Sheriff's Office employees who struggled with an inmate. That inmate died less than an hour after this encounter captured on security cameras in November. Those six originally faced involuntary manslaughter charges.
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - A grand jury has decided not to indict six Clayton County jail employees charged with involuntary manslaughter in the in-custody death of an inmate. This comes months after the county’s medical examiner ruled 38-year-old Terry Lee Thurmond’s death a homicide.
An attorney for Thurmond’s family said they’re in disbelief following the decision on the incident that was caught on camera.
"No one would say that what occurred was proper or right," Thomas Reynolds told FOX 5. "It really shocked us that it was on film and there was no indictment. The family is obviously shocked and hurt."
Video of the November 2022 incident released by the sheriff’s office showed Thurmond, who had a history of mental health issues, hanging over the second-floor balcony in what may have been an attempt to jump.
Several inmates and jail staff members intervene, but minutes later several officers can be seen pressing their knees into his neck and shoulder. The Clayton County medical examiner said Thurmond suffered cardiac arrest.
"These jails are pre-detention centers. These are facilities that are supposed to hold citizens that have been accused but are not convicted of crimes yet. These are innocent people under the law," Reynolds said.
Though the six sheriff’s office employees were terminated after the incident, he said that isn’t enough. He told FOX 5 the family wants to see issues within the system related to mental health addressed.
"The most vulnerable of our citizens—those who are dealing with disabilities, those who are dealing with mental health challenges—they’re really being abused and mishandled within our system for jails," Reynolds stated. "There has to be reform to the system that just allows our most vulnerable citizens to be killed under the weight of six people."
Thurmond’s family is also planning to file a civil lawsuit in the coming months.
"The abuse of detainees in that system is rampant and widespread. I mean, no other sheriff’s department that I’m aware of in the nation has had a former sheriff convicted of federal inmate abuse," Reynolds added.
FOX 5 reached out to the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office and DA’s office for comment on the grand jury decision, but had not heard back.