The Rockdale County sheriff is speaking out for the first time since an inmate was found dead in the county jail earlier this month.
The body of Shali Tilson, 22, was discovered in his cell March 12 after he was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of a law enforcement officer nine days earlier, officials said.
RELATED: Inmate dies in Rockdale County jail
Although the GBI — which is conducting the autopsy and investigation — has not released a cause of death, the incident has prompted some speculation about the cause online.
Sheriff Eric Levett responded to that speculation this week in a Facebook post.
He asked “those who seem to not want to understand the process” to “humble themselves” and “patiently wait” for the results of the investigation.
“Investigations are a timely process and are thoroughly done and take ample time to complete,” Levett said. “Some people rather not wait on the facts and would much rather use their own conclusions and judgments as to what happened to Mr. Tilson. I cannot and will not discuss this case since I need to know facts as well.”
The incident dates to March 3, when two officers were called to a home in the 1200 block of Lakeview Drive about a man later identified as Tilson trying to kick down the door, according to a Conyers police incident report The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained.
When police arrived, they said they found the Conyers man yelling profanities.
He was wearing a camouflage jacket, black pants and red shoes.
Although the report does not otherwise mention a woman with him, Tilson “also advised the female he was walking with had cocaine in her possession,” Conyers police Officer Marsh Thompson said in the report.
“He rambled on and on and was pacing back and forth as he yelled,” Thompson said in the report.
Cpl. Shyra Hardwick was then called to the scene.
“After attempting to calm him down for several minutes, it was apparent Tilson was not going to comply,” Thompson said.
According to the report, Tilson did not follow Thompson’s command to put his hands behind his back, so Thompson along with Z. Eaton, another officer on the scene, took control of Tilson’s hands and struggled to handcuff him.
After Tilson slipped out of handcuffs, police were eventually able to arrest him and turn him over to Rockdale County jail transport authorities, officials said.
Officers were then forced to “restrain him in a transport chair” in order to get him to the jail, police said in the incident report.
During that time, he asked one of the officers: “Why didn’t you shoot me?”
Thompson told Tilson he never had any intention of shooting anyone.
“I explained I was just trying to calm him down,” he said.
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