A 27-year-old Decatur man is the seventh person to die in custody at DeKalb County Jail this year.
Larynz Redd was found unresponsive in his cell on Saturday morning, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. The jail’s health care provider and DeKalb EMS unsuccessfully performed emergency medical services on-site.
With seven deaths, the DeKalb Jail has surpassed the Fulton County Jail, which has had four deaths in custody so far this year.
Deaths in custody can result from a combination of factors including overcrowding, inability to secure bail, a slow adjudication process, and lack of mental health care.
“We have a criminal justice [system] failure, and the sheriff’s office is right in the middle of it,” Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat told Capital B Atlanta earlier this month.
In a statement to the media, DeKalb County Sheriff Melody M. Maddox said that her office is “deeply concerned” about the incident as well as all in-custody deaths that have occurred this year.
“Their care and safety are our priorities, but no occurrence of this nature is predictable. The circumstances, regardless of what caused a death, are always thoroughly investigated. In addition, our jail operations team is committed to improving conditions at the jail that may help to prevent incidents where possible,” Maddox said.
Redd had reportedly been held since May 2024. The cause of his death is still under investigation, but officials have said there is no indication of foul play.
Six of this year’s seven in-custody deaths at the DeKalb jail have occurred since June 1. Two of those deaths weren’t disclosed by the sheriff’s office until they were reported on by Decaturish earlier this month.
While Fulton County Jail has received national attention for its gruesome conditions, in part due to a federal investigation that found a number of human rights abuses, DeKalb County Jail has largely flown under the radar.
However, those incarcerated at the jail have long spoken out about the dangerous conditions they faced in DeKalb County, specifically calling out the lack of mental health treatment and the time incarcerated people are allowed to spend outdoors.
