State authorities are investigating after a man was found unresponsive in a Cobb County jail cell Monday and died hours later at a hospital.
Joshua Capes, 48, was arrested by Cobb police April 24 and booked into the jail on felony drug possession charges. Eight days into his confinement, the Kennesaw man was found unresponsive during a mandatory cell check and sheriff’s deputies immediately began providing medical care, according to the Cobb sheriff’s office.
They were able to revive Capes before he was taken to a hospital, where he died late Monday surrounded by his family, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
Last year, three people died while in custody at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center. The year before that, seven detainees died, and public outcry prompted then-District Attorney Joyette Holmes to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to step in and conduct an external probe.
Other deaths, which total at least 14 dating to 2018, have resulted in lawsuits. Family members, activists and civil rights organizations have in the past criticized the medical care provided to detainees and said they were often neglected.
Since taking office last year, Sheriff Craig Owens has asked the GBI to conduct external investigations in each of the detainee deaths, while simultaneously investigating internally. The sheriff’s office confirmed Tuesday the GBI will investigate Capes’ death.
The state agency was expected to make a final determination on cause.
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