Demetre Mason, a 23-year-old purported Bloods gang member accused of executing two young women, has filed suit against a DeKalb County jailer he says beat him.
Mason, of Austell, is also suing the sergeant who allegedly told him to “man up and sleep it off.”
“An inmate doesn’t lose constitutional protections and constitutional rights regardless of what they're charged with,” Mark Begnaud of the Horsley Begnaud civil rights law firm said Thursday, announcing the suit. “We have the rule of law here and everybody needs to follow it.”
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The complaint alleges jailer Cesary Wilborn went into Mason’s cell on July 8, 2016. Wilborn allegedly punched him in the face and head. The jailer was angry because he claimed the inmate had thrown liquid on him and been rude, according to the suit, which was filed June 30.
The complaint says Mason was clearly battered and disoriented, but Sgt. T. Roberts declined to get medical help.
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Wilborn and Roberts couldn’t be reached for comment immediately Thursday and haven’t responded to accusations in court.
When she decided against medical treatment, Roberts hadn’t been told the full extent of the attack, though the suit claims she ought to have known because of Mason’s condition.
After she told him to “sleep it off,” he had a seizure in bed and fell from the top bunk, the complaint says. Doctors found he had a concussion and a broken jaw.
“This was a brutal, appalling attack by a DeKalb jailer — an act that cannot be condoned,” Mason’s attorney said. “Equally troubling is the response by the Sheriff’s Office."
Begnaud said the jailer was only suspended, not terminated, after an internal investigation found he used excessive force and lied about the beating.
Records cited by the attorney show Roberts was also criticized for not more swiftly disciplining Wilborn or seeking medical attention for Mason.
The sheriff’s office, which isn’t named as a defendant, didn’t immediately comment on the suit.
Mason, who allegedly goes by the nickname “Assassin,” has been in the county jail awaiting trial since May 2014, charged with murder in the deaths of Sonia Williams, 21, and Shaniqua Camacho, 20.
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Prosecutors have said Mason and another defendant executed them after Williams allegedly disrespected Malcolm Jamal “Dot” Brown, a reputed Bloods leader.
Camacho knew none of the people involved except Williams, a friend from school.
Begnaud doesn’t know if Wilborn knew what Mason was charged with.
“Our citizens deserve better, even those in custody,” he said, “and we are suing to hold these officers accountable.”
The suit, filed in DeKalb County State Court, seeks damages in an amount to be determined by a jury.
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