CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — One year after his death in a Clayton County jail, the family of Terry Lee Thurmond, who died after a struggle with jailers, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the county and other parties involved in his death.
Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen, jail staff, and medical providers on the scene joined the county in being named in the lawsuit.
"Essentially, we believe that the jailers used excessive force. They disregarded his medical needs," said Thomas Reynolds, the Thurmond's family attorney.
According to the lawsuit, Thurmond's family seeks monetary compensation and alleges the 38-year-old's death was due to excessive force from jail staff, deliberate indifference to his serious medical need, medical neglect, and discrimination based on his disability.
On Nov. 28, 2022, Thurmond died after an hour-long struggle with jailers at the Clayton County Jail.
Thurmond, who had only been in the jail one night on a criminal trespass charge, suffered cardiac arrest during his incident, and medical examiners ruled his death a homicide.
Thurmond was arrested and booked into the jail a day before his death on a criminal trespass charge at the airport.
The lawsuit is the Thurmond family's latest attempt to seek justice after a grand jury refused to indict jail staffers in July.
"There's limited solace that can be gained from the termination of these employees," said Reynolds. "Quite frankly, it does nothing to bring Mr. Thurmond back, and it doesn't hold the county responsible really for the actions."
According to the Clayton County Sheriff's Office, the jailers involved in the incident were fired. Video released earlier this year showed officers gripping Thurmond by his jumpsuit and lifting him back onto the floor after inmates called them for help when he began to hang over the second-floor railing.
According to Reynolds, what happened to Thurmond in the Clayton County jail is not an isolated incident.
"Anybody who has been paying attention has realized that the Clayton County jail and the sheriff's department there has had an ongoing long history of abusing its detainees," he explained.
It's a sentiment mirrored by Senator Jon Ossoff, Georgia senator and the chair of the Congressional Human Rights Subcommittee. In September, Ossoff called for an investigation into the jail, citing accusations of mistreatment and the conviction of the county's top jailer.
Now, Thurmond's family is seeking a jury trial to retry.