As temperatures outside the DeKalb County Jail plunged into the teens, a tragedy was unfolding inside the Georgia jail.
Lamar Walker was begging for help and slowly freezing to death, according to a federal lawsuit filed by his family.
Walker, 34, was arrested in December 2022 on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to local media. Walker, who had been detained at the jail several times before, was experiencing a mental health crisis and tried to flush his clothes down the toilet, prompting staff to confiscate his clothing, according the lawsuit.
Anticipating the cold temperatures, a jail official directed employees to provide two blankets to inmates in the coldest cells. But Walker was given no blankets and left “completely naked and agitated,” the lawsuit said.
Just eight days after his arrest, Walker was dead. Temperatures in his cell had reached 50 degrees, well below the 72 to 76 degrees required by jail policy, and an autopsy report found his cause of death was hypothermia, according to the lawsuit.
