The family of a Clayton County Jail detainee whose death was ruled a homicide has filed a federal lawsuit against the county, its sheriff, former deputies and medical providers allegedly responsible for the November 2022 incident.
Terry Thurmond’s death was the result of systematic and deliberate indifference at the jail, according to the complaint filed Tuesday by his sister and estate administrator, Laterral England, adult daughter, Niyah Thurmond, and Crysten Jackson, the guardian of his two minor children.
Terry Thurmond, 38, was tased and then pinned down by up to six jailers for more than 20 minutes, his family claims. He allegedly died while lying face down with his hands and legs pinned behind his back, having been refused immediate medical care.
Thomas Reynolds, an attorney for Thurmond’s family, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen and the other defendants made no effort to remedy the matter with the family. Reynolds said he’s also pursuing another case over a separate inmate’s death at the Clayton jail and might file other related lawsuits.
“We are very concerned about the ongoing conditions within the jail,” Reynolds said Wednesday. “We heard from several victims at the facility and are considering additional claims.”
Thurmond’s death was ruled a homicide by the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office. A grand jury declined to indict half a dozen jailers in relation to the incident following a probe by the GBI.
Allen’s office revealed in December 2022 that all employees directly involved in Thurmond’s death were fired for policy violations.
Representatives of the county and its sheriff did not respond to questions about the case.
Those sued by Thurmond’s family include seven people who allegedly worked as sheriff’s deputies in Clayton when the incident occurred, as well as two nurses accused of negligently attending to Thurmond at the jail. Two medical providers, listed in the complaint as CorrectHealth Clayton LLC and Millenia Medical Services Inc, also face civil claims.
Thurmond’s physical and mental health problems were known to jail staff and contractors, his family alleged. He was arrested in November 2022 for trespassing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and had previously been detained at the jail, the lawsuit states.
“Although Mr. Thurmond was housed in a unit for those with mental health problems, he never received any medication or treatment for his mental health issues,” the plaintiffs said in their complaint. “This was true even when he began to exhibit signs of a mental health crisis and called for help from the officers and medical personnel at the jail over an hour before the mental health episode that led to his death.”
Jailers used an illegal method of restraining Thurmond even though he posed no danger to others, his family alleged. They claimed he became erratic after officers “began to pull, wrestle and beat him” away from a railing inside a second-floor jail unit.
“Mr. Thurmond informed the officers that he was no longer resisting and can clearly be heard saying he quit and that he gives up,” the complaint states. “Mr. Thurmond can also be heard complaining about his breathing and losing feeling, yet the officers continued to pin him down in the prone position.”
A nurse eventually arrived on the scene and waited nearly five minutes before checking Thurmond’s breathing, and nearly six minutes before performing any chest compressions, according to the lawsuit, which references CCTV video footage of the incident.
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