Former Fulton County Jail inmate loses legs, fingers after alleged neglect

Ben Crump sues over Fulton County Jail neglect

Attorney Ben Crump says a former Fulton County Jail inmate suffered sepsis and required limb amputations after staff allegedly ignored his medical needs.

ATLANTA - A former inmate at the Fulton County Jail alleges gross neglect by medical staffers led to the amputation of his legs and most of his fingers.

Former inmate alleges medical neglect

What we know:

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump says his client, 34-year-old Mohammed, suffered from sepsis because jail staffers ignored his pleas for help. Mohammed says he begged workers in the medical unit for antibiotics to treat a bladder condition, but he was ignored for days. While in custody, Mohammed says he was throwing up and unable to get up, but "nobody's coming" to check on him.

According to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, Rashaad Mohammed was in custody for 177 days, but he was only in the jail's medical unit for 11 of those days. The sheriff's office also stated that Mohammed was already ill when he arrived at the facility. Crump, who previously represented the family of LaShawn Thompson, says the jail is not being run differently after Thompson's death and plans to file a lawsuit.

What we don't know:

FOX 5 Atlanta does not know what NaphCare Inc. of Birmingham, which was the medical provider, has to say about the illness. The medical unit that NaphCare operates was responsible for Mohammed's care during the 11 days he was in the jail, though Fulton County District 5 Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. plans to call for an investigation into the provider, NaphCare, to find out what happened.

What's next:

Commissioner Arrington Jr. says he plans to speak with Sheriff Patrick Labat and look at jail policies to prevent similar situations from happening again. Attorney Ben Crump is moving forward with legal action, citing that Fulton County is "one of the worst" cases of jail neglect he has seen across the country.