The aunt of a man who is being held at the Clayton County Jail on a probation violation says her nephew was stabbed over 20 times in his head and body on May 17, and that he told her he has lost his vision.

Nigel Perkins, Jr., 24, of Fairburn, was taken into custody on March 1. His case is on the Superior Court jail case probation calendar before Judge Robert Mack at 8 a.m. on June 6. Perkins had been on probation under the First Offender Act on a 2016 charge of entering an automobile.

“I spoke with him again yesterday,” Shantill Perkins told The Clayton Crescent, “and he said that he’s still in pain, He told me that he still has open wounds that still hasn’t been cared for. Also, ’cause at first it was like one of his eyes that was sealed shut, and yesterday he said when he woke up, now he has no vision at all. He can’t see. Both of his eyes are shut now.” She said he had been stabbed in his left eye.

“I think there was like over 20 times in the back, and multiple times in the legs, arms, forehead,” she said. “He got stitches in his forehead. His hair was snatched out. Like…it’s terrible.”

According to Shantill Perkins, Nigel Perkins was transported to Southern Regional Medical Center on the 17th, but she does not know what time the incident happened nor when he was taken to the hospital.

“He said that, since then, he’s passed out multiple times,” she said. “And one time, he just hit his head and they still haven’t given him the proper care.” She added that she did not know whether Perkins had been prescribed antibiotics or other medication at the hospital: “He didn’t say.”

She says she isn’t sure whether her nephew was attacked in an extortion attempt, which has become commonplace in the jail.

“Part of that is what I’ve heard but I’m not for sure of what happened,” she said. “But I do know that he was placed in housing and he wasn’t supposed to be in that section. And he told the officer that he feared for his life in that area and he still placed him over there.” She said she thought Perkins had been transferred “because he had complained about not being fed properly, not having access to the phone, and I’m guessing that’s why they transferred him over into that area.” The only officer he mentioned to her, she said, was an Officer Jones. She said that another corrections officer “made it [their] business” to let Perkins’ family know about the extent of Perkins’ injuries, noting that the injuries had changed Perkins’ appearance since he had been taken into custody less than three weeks prior.

We’ve asked the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office for more information about the incident through an Open Records Request and will update with any response.

Last month, District Attorney Tasha Mosley announced a 64-count RICO indictment, which included one jail security specialist, alleging systematic extortion and gang activity in the jail.

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Robin Kemp

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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