CONYERS, Ga. -- A rally was held Saturday outside the Rockdale County Sheriff's office after two recent inmate deaths inside the county jail.
Shali Tilson, 22, of Conyers, was found dead in his cell on March 12, nine days after he had been arrested on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. An autopsy by the GBI found the cause of death to be pulmonary thrombi (blood clots) due to dehydration.
A subdural hemorrhage was also identified at autopsy, the cause of which was not able to be determined.
Jamie Henry, 40, of Douglasville, died May 27 after she was found unresponsive in her cell.
Henry was being held at the request of another law enforcement agency. The GBI has not released the results of an autopsy done on her, but according to an attorney, witnesses in the jail have allegedly stated she called for help and was in need of medical treatment.
The Rockdale NAACP has sent Sheriff Eric Levett a letter outlining steps the NAACP believes need to be taken.
"As a leader of this community, we are going to be asking the D.A. to press charges to the fullest of the law for both families," said Thomas Brantley Jr., president of the Rockdale NAACP. "But the first thing is we need to have the questions answered and whoever is responsible for both of these deaths needs to be pressed fully to the law."
Among other demands, the NAACP is calling for Chief Jailer Nikie Weatherby to be relieved of her duties pending the outcome of the investigations, as well as the jail's head of medical staff.
"Failure to respond and take immediate action to our demands will leave the Rockdale NAACP no choice but to go to the head of the GBI and the federal authorities to seek accountability for these families and the remaining incarcerated jailers in Rockdale County jail," Brantley said.
PHOTOS: Rockdale protest over inmate deaths
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