Crime & Public Safety
Crime & Public Safety

Videos show Georgia prison guards waiting as 24-year-old commits suicide

This is surveillance video from inside the isolation-segregation unit at Smith State Prison on the night 24-year-old inmate Richard Tavera committed suicide in December 2014.
By
Sept 6, 2017

Surveillance videos of the suicide of a Georgia prison inmate show officers standing by as the 24-year-old commits suicide. The videos, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, show how the incident unfolded in real time and conflicts with accounts filed by prison officials.

Read the latest on the AJC's investigation at myAJC.com.

About the Author

Danny Robbins is a long-time investigative reporter who has worked for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Associated Press, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and other media outlets. He was part of the team at the AJC that was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in national reporting in 2017 for its investigation of sexually abusive doctors.

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