A former Fulton County jail detention officer has been arrested after allegedly not stepping in when an inmate was being stabbed and repeatedly beaten by other inmates last month, according to court documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Gloria Franklin, 30, is accused of not intervening and not seeking medical help when an inmate was attacked in the early morning hours of Feb. 7 and then cleaning blood off the jailhouse floor in order to hide the assault. The roughly 10-minute episode was captured on the jail’s security cameras and detailed in the warrant for Franklin’s arrest.
Around 3:20 a.m., cameras showed two inmates arguing near the back of the zone in which they were housed, which led to several other inmates joining in, the warrant states. The victim, 26-year-old Qwayshawn Green, also joined the group.
A short time later, an inmate from a neighboring zone, Frank Hubbert, asks Franklin to open the door to his area, according to the warrant. She does so and then leaves as Hubbert rushes to the area where the argument is unfolding. Around the same time, Green is seen standing by the wall before he is stabbed in the left shoulder with a makeshift knife. He then runs toward the zone door but is blocked by another inmate, who also is armed with a shank. A third inmate punches Green in the face, causing him to fall.
While on the floor, Green is kicked in the face and beaten with a food tray by multiple inmates. Within a few minutes, Franklin “emerged from the tower and walked directly toward the assault,” the warrant states. She follows Green and watches as he “falls out on the stairs” and crawls to his feet before Hubbert delivers another round of punches and knocks Green to the ground again as Franklin continues watching, according to the warrant.
Franklin then lets Hubbert back into his zone and appears to have a conversation with him before leaving the area shortly before 3:30 a.m., according to the warrant. About 10 minutes later, Franklin allegedly returns with two bottles of commercial-grade cleaning solution to remove the blood left on the floor. She then looks into the cell to which Green had retreated, asked if he was OK and left, the warrant states.
No documentation of the assault was recorded, investigators noted in the warrant. Green only received medical attention at the request of the command staff when they learned of the incident the following day. He had two stab wounds on his left arm and chest.
It was not clear why Green was attacked. He told investigators that he didn’t know the other inmates since he was new to the zone.
Franklin was arrested Tuesday and faces multiple charges, including cruelty to inmates, reckless conduct, tampering with evidence, simple assault and four counts of violation of oath by a public officer.
“We are all responsible for our actions, and if you break the law you will be held accountable,” Sheriff Patrick Labat said in a statement. “I expect my deputies to hold themselves to a much higher standard. These inexcusable actions simply will not be tolerated.”
Franklin joined the sheriff’s office as a deputy in 2018 and was demoted to a detention officer the following year, the sheriff’s office said. The reason for her demotion was not disclosed.
The other inmates involved in the attack were identified by authorities as Jaquan Fields, Chaies Spencer, Jermaine Carter, Valen Preston and Julian Shipman. The sheriff’s office did not say what charges they could face.
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