58-year-old inmate dies at DeKalb County Jail's intake

A 58-year-old man being transferred to the DeKalb County Jail from a nine-day stay at an area hospital died last Wednesday.

Ricky Lavoghn McCullum was waiting in the jail’s intake area to be escorted back to a housing unit when he collapsed, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office says. Deputies, the jail medical staff, and arriving medics could not revive him.

He was pronounced dead at the jail.

According to a release from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, McCullum had been in custody since June 3 on an outstanding warrant for criminal trespass and obstruction of law enforcement officer, both misdemeanors. The warrants were filed by Chamblee Police.

DeKalb County Jail

The warrants state McCullum had refused to leave a shopping center, which was closed at the time.

He received a $1,000 bond, but refused to agree that he would not return to the shopping center as one of the conditions for his bond.

The cause and manner of death is being investigated by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Internally, the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards is investigating the inmate’s death.