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 lifeless in her single-person cell.
Vaughan was found lifeless and partially decomposed inside a single, scorching, poorly ventilated segregation cell on the morning of July 9.
Indicators like her physique’s decomposition counsel she could have died a lot earlier, the Atlanta Journal-Structure reported. Well being and coroner data point out Vaughan had given start six months earlier than her demise.
When Habersham County Deputy Coroner Kenneth Franklin arrived, the temperature in her cell was already within the 90s with little airflow. Franklin famous sturdy 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 verify on inmates in segregation a minimum of 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 demise as a result of harsh circumstances of the power.
In accordance with jail incident logs, a neighboring prisoner reported listening to Vaughan name for medical assist round 6 a.m. on July 8. In accordance 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 following day.
The coroner’s report acknowledged Vaughan was discovered at 10:40 a.m., however Franklin was advised a welfare verify was carried out 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 services throughout the Georgia Division of Corrections (GDC). In accordance with NowHabersham, the plan would cshut the jail’s primary models whereas maintaining its 112-bed transitional heart operational.
The power could 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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