Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes said Wednesday she will request an independent investigation into the recent deaths of Cobb jail inmates.
Holmes’ office issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying she intends to ask the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia to conduct the probe, following a federal lawsuit filed last week by the family of Kevil Wingo.
He was being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on a drug possession charge in September 2019, and died in custody after begging for medical help from jail staff.
Wingo’s family, through attorney Timothy Gardner, had asked for an independent investigation, and here’s what Holmes said in response:
“The files that Mr. Gardner obtained through open records requests to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office were submitted to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, media, and other organizations. Those materials should be a part of an independent investigation into Mr. Wingo’s death and other inmate deaths at the jail. As I have previously stated, I am committed to ensuring that matters of public safety and the concerns of our citizens be addressed by our office or referred to the appropriate agency without favor or fear.”
Wingo, who was 36 at the time of his death, had complained of an ulcer and said he was having trouble breathing. According to the lawsuit, he was taken to an isolation room at the jail, and died an hour later after being taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
In February, the Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office issued a report saying Wingo died of natural causes, with complications due to a perforated gastric ulcer.
Wingo is one of eight inmates to have died at Cobb jail since June of last year. According to 11Alive, his death wasn’t made public until the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, which oversees jail operations, completed an internal investigation.
The Wingo family lawsuit was filed against Wellstar Health system, six nurses and three sheriff’s deputies.
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