An inmate at the troubled Fulton County Jail used blankets and towels to hang himself soon after he was taken off suicide watch and just two days before his 23rd birthday, officials said Monday.
DeKeveen Kilpatrick had just been moved into a seventh floor cell block Thursday evening when a officer making rounds 40 minutes later went into the cell because did not see Kilpatrick on his bed.
According to a report on the death, Kilpatrick had been in his cell laughing and joking just before midnight Thursday. An officer conducting security rounds found him in a corner just before 12:30 a.m. Friday. His breathing was shallow and his pulse was faint.
Kilpatrick was pronounced dead three hours later.
He had been in the jail since November on charges of driving without a license, arson, affiliating with gang members and criminal damage to property. His bond was set at $500.
He would have turned 23 on Monday.
Officials said that section of the jail was adequately staffed.
For years, the Fulton County Jail has struggled under court supervision and one of the issues has consistently been short-staffing.
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