MACON, Ga. — The U.S. Department of Justice is taking the department of corrections to court over the state of Georgia's prisons.
The federal agency has been investigating conditions in the state's prisons due to spikes in violence including murder, suicide, and assaults.
They say the state refuses to hand over documents they've requested in their investigation, which includes information like how many inmates have been murdered. Marcus Pearson Sr. and his family say that his son was killed behind bars, and they still have yet to receive any details on how their son died.
"I come home every night, look at his picture up there. The first thing I see getting up,” Pearson says.
Marcus Pearson Sr.’s son Marcus Jr. was an inmate at Telfair State Prison. Pearson says his son was a good kid who loved to make people laugh. He was serving time for armed robbery and was a year away from release when he died two years ago.
"He was found unresponsive in his dorm due to an altercation with another inmate,” Pearson says.
Prison officials told Pearson and the media that his son died from blunt force trauma, but his Pearson says that’s not true.
“I have an autopsy report that shows he died from multiple stab wounds, so blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds is two different things,” Pearson says.
He hasn't heard from the prison in two years about their investigation and he says they’ve been left to speculate about what happened to their son.
“He (Marcus Jr.) told me, ‘You know, don’t worry about me, Dad. I’m coming home,’ but I never would’ve expected it to be like that,” Pearson says.
Pearson and his family just want answers to how his son died, who killed him, why they did it, and if there was ever prosecution.
"That's my junior. My firstborn son. It's like someone sticking their hand down your chest and pulling your heart out,” he says.
Pearson says he feels the state prison system swept his son's death under the rug and wishes it could be handled more seriously.
U.S. attorney Peter Leary says the federal investigation will look into whether Georgia's prisons are safe.
"The safety and welfare of incarcerated individuals as well as prison guards is of utmost importance, and we wanna make sure we're protecting people's civil rights while they're serving their time,” Leary says.
The Georgia Corrections Department sent us a statement saying that they have been working together with the justice department. However they say federal officials are asking for confidential information that could threaten the safety of staff and inmates. The DOJ has refused the necessary protections for this information. The state will provide the Department of Justice with the requisition information once they agree to take appropriate precautions.