This is the first in a series of reports on Georgia's system of state psychiatric hospitals, focusing on the suspicious deaths of 115 patients. Future articles will look at patient abuse, escapes and inadequate planning for the treatment of discharged patients.

Today's main article is based in part on interviews with members of Sarah Crider's family and others familiar with her hospitalization and death. Reporters also reviewed medical records, reports from two state inquiries into her death, and a medical examiner's investigation. Direct quotations not taken from documents or heard by reporters appear in italics.

The Georgia Department of Human Resources, which operates the seven state hospitals, refused to identify any current or past patients, including the 364 who have died in state custody in the past five years.

Citing federal privacy rules and other laws, the agency's attorneys heavily edited incident reports and other documents concerning patients' deaths. By contrast, the agency releases complete files on deaths of children in its foster care system, as required by a 2000 state law.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution used other sources -- including a database of state vital records, death certificates, autopsy reports and claims filed against the state -- to identify about 80 percent of the deceased patients and the causes of their deaths.

Articles in this series were reported by Journal-Constitution staff writers Alan Judd and Andy Miller. To share your experiences with the mental health system, contact Judd or Miller at 404-526-2640.