A defendant in the long-running Young Slime Life gang trial that ended last month in a verdict acquitting him of the most serious charges accused Sheriff Patrick Labat and Chief Jailer John Jackson of allowing unsafe conditions in the Fulton County jail.
Shannon Stillwell, who is in jail awaiting hearings on other charges, and fellow inmate Nkenegen Hambrick said the conditions in the jail are unsanitary and place inmates’ lives in danger from violence and even bedbugs, according to a lawsuit they filed in federal court this week. Stillwell has been stabbed twice in the 2½ years since he was brought to the jail.
Stillwell, who sued under the name Shannon Jackson, and Hambrick filed the suit as a class action, seeking to represent a large group of inmates they say have been exposed to the unlivable conditions in the jail.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
The inmates’ attorney, Michael Harper, said they filed the proposed class action in the hopes a federal judge issues an injunction and begins to enforce some of the recommendations the U.S. Department of Justice made in their report released last month. A DOJ investigation found Fulton County is violating the civil rights of the people housed at the county jail by allowing “abhorrent, unconstitutional” conditions at the Rice Street jail.
“This is not about money, it is about fixing the conditions of the jail, making sure that these inmates are not able to make knives and shanks out of jail materials, to make sure that the jail is sanitary enough so these inmates are not coming out with these horrible diseases on their bodies and to make sure that the excessive force ends,” Harper said. “It is for a federal judge to step in and fix the problem at the Fulton County jail.”
Hambrick spent just six months at the jail between January 2023 and June 2023, according to the suit. While there, Hambrick suffered “severe wounds and sores on his torso and lower body” due to the unsanitary conditions at the jail, according to the lawsuit. Medical records showed Hambrick also had about 20 stab wounds, and possible bug and spider bites.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Stillwell was indicted alongside Atlanta rapper Young Thug and 26 others on RICO charges in May 2022. He was acquitted of those charges, including two counts of murder, last week and sentenced to time served on a single guilty verdict but has other pending charges keeping him at the jail.
Stillwell was stabbed twice at the jail — on July 4, 2022, and Dec. 10, 2023 — and was sent to Grady Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. Harper said they are glad Stillwell was able to survive both stabbings and see the not guilty verdict.
A spokesperson for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said they have not yet been served with the lawsuit and declined to comment.
Harper said it’s important to remember the jail is used to house pretrial detainees who have not yet been convicted of their charges, and they come out of the facility “with horrific scars on their body and some of them get killed before they get their day in trial.”
He said the time for talking is over and called on Labat and Fulton County officials to fix the situation.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
In a news conference Thursday, Harper also announced another lawsuit against Labat and multiple sheriff’s office deputies for the death of Dayvion Blake, who was stabbed and killed in his cell at the Fulton County jail on Aug. 31, 2023. Harper said inmates were able to access Blake’s cell due to dysfunctional locks and stabbed him multiple times while Blake was sleeping.
“In Dayvion Blake’s case, those officers were aware that he was in a dangerous place. He had been stabbed several times before he was killed and they did nothing to protect him and that’s unconstitutional,” Harper said.
Harper, who represented the family of Lashawn Thompson, was able to reach a settlement after Thompson died at the jail in 2022 covered with bedbugs. Thompson’s death was a catalyst for the DOJ investigation into the jail. Harper said families should absolutely be paid for their loved ones who are killed or injured inside the jail, but it shouldn’t be the end.
Harper said he hopes Fulton County officials take necessary actions to improve the jail before a judge orders them to.
“We have to fix this jail at some point in time. We can’t just go on as a business as usual with everyone,” he said. “We all know the problem but no one’s doing anything about it.”
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