DeKalb County, GA — An inmate at the DeKalb County jail died on March 15, marking the first custodial death of a county jail inmate this year.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the inmate’s family is seeking answers and requesting a “speedy” autopsy.

“According to preliminary reports, Christon Devante Collins, 27, experienced a medical emergency in his jail cell on March 13, 2024,” a spokesperson for the DeKalb County Sheriff said. “The sheriff’s office on-site medical team responded and rendered emergency services until DeKalb EMS arrived and transported Mr. Collins to a local hospital, where he later died. A resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Mr. Collins had been in custody since Feb. 4, 2024, on charges of Obstruction of Law Enforcement and Simple Battery Against Police. The incident is being investigated by the agency’s Office of Professional Standards (OPS).”

The AJC reports that Collins was a U.S. Army Veteran with a history of mental illness. To read the full story, click here.

Four DeKalb County Jail inmates died in 2023, a decrease from 2022 when nine inmates died. Last year, Decaturish published a lengthy investigative story about deaths at the jail in 2022, the deadliest year in a decade. Several of the inmates who died in 2022 had a history of mental illness, records show.

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