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

Blood on the walls of a cell where Deandre Hart was stabbed while sleeping by five detainees who used homemade shanks, July 8, 2022. Hart’s mother said he did not get proper medical attention afterwards and that CCSO did not allow her to see the full extent of her son’s injuries. CCSO did post this and other photos from the incident to its Facebook account. (Photo: CCSO/Facebook)

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:

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.


Read CCSO’s “Inmate Handbook” (2013)

Read CCSO’S “Rules and Regulations” (2015)

Robin Kemp is executive editor and CEO of The Clayton Crescent, which she founded in 2020. She has worked for Gambit, CNN, The Weather Channel, Clayton News, Henry Herald, and numerous freelance outlets....

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