The Clayton County Sheriff’s Department has released video of a gang attack on a pretrial detainee—the latest in a series of such incidents over the past two years.
According to WSB-TV’s Audrey Washington, the video was shot by a staff member and most of it was too graphic to air during the newscast. What was shown was blurred out.
Five inmates stabbed the 23-year-old victim 21 times. The man’s mother spoke on the condition she not be identified, saying she was afraid of possible retaliation.
According to Clayton County Magistrate Court records, Beau Mosley, 18, was charged on January 5 with aggravated assault and giving an inmate gun/drugs/alcohol. He also was charged January 6 with aggravated battery.
Derrick Thrash, 17, was charged on January 5 with aggravated assault and deposit account fraud. On January 6, he was also charged with aggravated battery.
CCSO says it took out warrants January 8 on three other pretrial detainees: Tyquarius Bell, Tyrell Johnson, and Aquannis Millets.
The victim’s mother told Washington his injuries. are “pretty bad. He’s going to be in a wheelchair for a while. He’s got a collapsed lung.” She added that she had spoken with Interim Sheriff Allen once but had not heard from him since as of press time. Internal Affairs is conducting an investigation.
Allen said in a Nixle post that “There will be zero tolerance for gang activities” in the jail.
A deadly pattern emerges
For more than a year, reports of doors off hinges, gang members extorting other pretrial detainees and their family members for commissary money, and multiple people jumping and stabbing other pretrial detainees have been filtering out of the jail. In addition, some jail staff were terminated after they allegedly took part in moving contraband from the jail’s perimeter to detainees inside the facility:
- May 15, 2021: Chaka Cetewayo Stewart, 40, dies in the Clayton County Jail after he allegedly led police on a high-seed chase ending at rapper Rick Ross’ mansion. At the time, TMZ reported that Stewart’s mother Jacqueline Smith, “last spoke to her son [the day before he died], and claims he told her he was being mistreated behind bars. Gordon alleges Stewart said he was being beaten — unclear if he was blaming officials or other folks behind bars — wasn’t allowed to shower and was confined to his cell for 23 hours a day. Gordon also claims one of the deputies told Stewart he’d never be getting out of there … while also asserting Georgia authorities have been ducking her and her inquiries.”
- July 8, 2022: Deandre Hart, a man living with mental illness, was jumped and stabbed while sleeping in the Clayton County Jail. CCSO Social Media Manager Carl Johnson posted gory photos of a bloody wall and floor and shanks wrapped with bloody gauze handles to former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill’s Facebook page. The post also included two wide shots of inmates standing around a common area and looking into the cell. Previously, The Clayton Crescent had filed an Open Records Request for information about the incident. Harta man living with mental illness whose mother, Tisha Hart, said he had not gotten appropriate medical treatment. Hart also said that jail staff refused to let her see her son and only provided a single photo of a minor injury.
- July 14, 2022: CCSO jail staff making rounds found Jaylan Andrise Goodman, 26, dead in his cell around 8:20 a.m. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Jarvin Cornelius Walker, 22, of Atlanta and charged him with felony murder. In that case, Johnson posted that the incident had happened because Hill was under suspension. Hill was later convicted of violating pretrial detainees’ civil rights by using jail restraint chairs as punishment devices. Video of Hill, Allen, and other command staff, including former CCSO Chief of Staff Mitzi Bickers, either ordering, taking part in, or watching at least three detainees being strapped into chairs without cause was instrumental in convicting Hill on six of seven counts. Hill’s case is on appeal, as is Bickers’ unrelated conviction in the Atlanta City Hall contract-fixing scandal.
- July 21, 2022: Demetrius Eugene Alexander, 43, allegedly dies in the jail. A source told The Clayton Crescent that the family allegedly learned Alexander had died from another detainee who called them a day later. As of July 23, CCSO allegedly had not yet contacted the family, according to the source.
- July 25, 2022: CCSO releases records in response to The Clayton Crescent’s Open Records Request in the Deandre Hart stabbing. Three suspects—Jalen Bryant Freeman, 21; Travaughn L. Gordon, 20; and Braylen Staples, 21—were charged with aggravated assault.
- August 1, 2022: A source who requested anonymity for reasons of personal safety told The Clayton Crescent that they had not seen the jail as dangerous for many years, citing understaffing. The source said that gang members were jumping other detainees, making shanks from parts of doors, extorting other detainees and their families, adding, “There’s no security at the jail.”
- September 20, 2022: CCSO asks the Board of Commissioners for $2,1786,000 “to provide lock and hinge repair throughout the Clayton County Jail” and another $2 million for the jail’s health services contractor, Correct Health.
- October 4, 2022: Clayton County Central Services, on behalf of CCSO, asks the Clayton County Board of Commissioners for $120,000 from the General Fund to replace hinges and locks in the jail. CCSO has a contract with Willo Products Company, Inc. of Decatur, AL; the request was to amend the contract (PSA 22-263). The request passed unanimously. Previously, CCSO has asked for $2,176,000. At the same meeting, 107 CCSO correctional officers—about one-third of CCSO staff—got pay raises totaling $206,781.
- October 26, 2022: Hill convicted in the jailhouse restraint chair case.
- November 28, 2022: A man died around 8 p.m. after falling from a tier inside the jail. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took jurisdiction of the incident. On December 19, “all employees directly involved were terminated for policy violations,” Allen wrote in a Nixle post.
- December 28, 2022: Five people, including former jail staff and local rapper TTG Fred, were arrested in a sting, allegedly for moving “cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and cell phones” to pretrial detainees inside the jail. CCSO released mugshots of four suspects: Jason Isaiah Mahone, Shun Lamar Almond, Erik Jameil Ray, and Tariq Ismail Abdussaboor. (It is the editorial policy of The Clayton Crescent not to publish mugshots of people who have ben accused, but not convicted, of a crime.)
- January 4, 2023 : The mother of a man who was stabbed by five other detainees alleged to be gang members told Allen about a video of the incident. On January 8, CCSO’s Nixle alleged that “inmates [sic] attempted to hide their identities while filming with a cellphone their participation in a gang assault on another inmate [sic].”
- January 17, 2023: Two of six detainees, Joshua Shubrich and Jaileak Jenkins, were charged in another alleged gang stabbing. In that incident, the suspects allegedly posed for a photo with their victim. CCSO says Allen ordered an investigation after seeing the photo.
Allen, who has said he will not tolerate gang activity in the jail, was videotaped taking part in strapping at least three pretrial detainees into restraint chairs on the orders of former Sheriff Victor Hill. A jury convicted Hill on federal charges of violating six of seven pretrial detainees’ rights under color of law. Hill awaits sentencing next month but is campaigning hard for Allen, who both men say took a special interest in bringing him up through the ranks.
