Ramon McGhee family to file lawsuit against Shelby County Jail

Source: Raymond Boyd / Getty

This is the second time that a story like this about the fatal conditions of jails has come to light recently and it’s about damn time someone raised holy hell about it.

BOSSIP previously reported on the death of Lashawn Thompson who was “eaten alive” by bed bugs at Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail back in September of 2022. Thompson’s autopsy revealed that he was subjected to egregious neglect by jail staff and ultimately died of numerous ailments including fatal cardiac arrhythmia, dehydration, malnourishment, and rapid weight loss. It was also determined that Thompson was not being given the medicine that he was prescribed.

Fast forward to today where Fox13Memphis is reporting a disturbingly similar story about 42-year-old Ramon McGhee who was found unconscious and nonresponsive on January 12, 2024. He was taken to a local hospital covered in feces, lice, and severe bed bug bites where he was pronounced dead.

These conditions are not new and the administration at the jail is fully aware of the deplorable conditions, yet there appears to be no rush to rectify the situation.

McGhee’s family has retained the services of ubiquitous civil rights attorney Ben Crump who will likely be filing a lawsuit against the jail and all adjacent parties.

Ramon’s condition upon arrival at the hospital, infested with insects and covered in bites, is truly chilling. How long was this negligence and mistreatment going on for his body to be overtaken by lice and bed bugs? One can only imagine the severity of Ramon’s suffering.

We have long been calling out the many abuses at Shelby County Jail and we now have a clearer picture of the true inhabitable nature of that facility. The time is now for the federal government to strongly intervene to ensure that this jail is reformed from the inside out so that nobody else has to suffer the same fate as Ramon.

According to Commercial Appeal, Crump is also representing the families of two other men who died while in the custody of Shelby County, Deion Byrd and Gershun Freeman. Crump and the families are calling for the federal government to step in and investigate the jail for civil rights violations.