The noose Yoel Robton made out of a torn bed sheet hung in plain sight off the top bunk inside a cell at the Doraville Detention Facility for hours in 2014, as the 36-year-old Fulton County man contemplated ending his life.
As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday, Robton was in jail Aug. 17, 2014 on an outstanding warrant after missing a court date. He continually paced around his cell, adjusted the noose's length, fitted it around his neck and tested its strength — actions that went unnoticed by jailers, despite departmental policies that require them to physically check on inmates every 20 minutes and monitor closed-circuit video feeds from inside the cells.
Robton eventually used the noose to end his life and the ensuring internal investigation found jailers violated departmental policy by not checking on Robton and failing to administer his anti-depressant medication, which had been dropped off for him at the jail.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that this did not have to happen,” Robton’s mother, Debra, said.
The case resulted in a $2 million legal settlement between Robton’s family and the city of Doraville in September, and caused several policy changes at the jail.
The AJC obtained the video from inside Robton's cell, and examined dozens of pages from the department's internal investigation for its report.
