DeKalb jailers ignored Army vet for hours as he lay dying, lawsuit alleges
The overdose death of a U.S. Army veteran inside the DeKalb County Jail could have been prevented had the guards tasked with supervising detainees been more vigilant, the man’s family argued in a new lawsuit.
Instead, Christon Collins was left alone for roughly three hours last year as jail personnel failed to provide treatment that could have saved his life, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said. One guard, he said, was seen playing on her cellphone as the 27-year-old lay dying.
The wrongful death lawsuit brought by Collins’ mother was announced Tuesday on what would have been her son’s 29th birthday. It names DeKalb Sheriff Melody Maddox, three detention officers and an EMT.
Maddox, the suit contends, has established “a pattern of widespread constitutional deprivations” within the jail, where drugs are “rampantly distributed and used.”
The sheriff’s office declined to comment on the litigation Wednesday but said eight people have died in custody since the start of the year. That’s twice as many as have died this year in the Fulton County Jail, which is under a federal consent decree mandating improvements to conditions there.
Authorities said Collins became unresponsive March 13, 2024, after taking fentanyl given to him by another inmate. He was ultimately taken to the hospital, where he died two days later.
At a news conference Tuesday, Collins’ family demanded to know how fentanyl got into the jail in the first place. Collins’ mother, Jonia Milburn, said she also wants to know why surveillance footage showed jailhouse staff repeatedly ignoring her son.
“He was a human being. He was not an animal,” Milburn said. “(He) laid on the floor for more than three hours, and nobody provided care.
“My child should be here today.”
Two months before his death, Collins pleaded guilty to interference with government property and obstruction, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. As part of his sentence, the veteran was ordered to be released in order to receive treatment at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.
Collins was re-arrested twice within days of his release, first on Feb. 1 for criminal trespassing and a second time on Feb. 4 on charges of obstruction and simple battery against police. Collins was in jail for those charges when he overdosed, officials said.
Milburn said her son struggled with mental illness and that she had tried to get him help. The former Army private suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, but getting him the care he needed was difficult.
“This young man who served our county — served us — OD’d while he was in that care, and he did not get help,” said family attorney Liza Park. “This cannot go on.”
Crump said Collins was a young man in the throes of a mental health crisis and questioned whether he should have been locked up at all.
“He shouldn’t have died in jail,” Crump said.
Attorneys also said the sheriff’s office investigated itself in the wake of Collins’ death.
Two of the jailers were disciplined, according to the lawsuit, one for being on her phone and another for failing to provide CPR to Collins, despite being certified.
Fellow inmate Tobias Woods, who gave Collins the fentanyl, pleaded guilty Tuesday to distributing the contraband and was sentenced to 10 years for his role in the veterans’ overdose, attorneys said.
DeKalb District Attorney Sherry Boston said Woods was among those who moved Collins to his cell after he lost consciousness. He was eventually brought back to the pod’s dayroom and placed on a mattress there.
“Witnesses say Woods not only provided the fatal substance to Mr. Collins, but he also actively worked to prevent Collins from getting the help he needed when he knew something was wrong so that he wouldn’t get caught,” the DA said last year.
About the Author
