DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's Note: 11Alive has decided not to use the body camera video because it features possible graphic material.
The DeKalb County District Attorney's Office stated that it will be further examining the death of a DeKalb County Jail inmate and Army veteran who died during a medical emergency while in custody.
It comes just hours after the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office released body camera footage and an incident report of the moments that Christon Collins was found unresponsive on March 13; he died two days later on March 15.
Jonia Milburn, Collins's mother, said her son had been arrested and hospitalized multiple times after leaving the Army due to mental episodes. At the time of his death, Collins had been in custody at the DeKalb County Jail since February 4 on charges of obstruction of law enforcement and simple battery against police.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston released the full statement below:
"We are very concerned about the circumstances surrounding the death of Christon Collins in the DeKalb County Jail. Our office was previously advised that Mr. Collins died as the result of a medical emergency. New information has come to light that we believe warrants further examination. We will be asking the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office to forward all related information to us so that we can fully investigate what happened to Mr. Collins.”
His family recently held a news conference where they demanded answers about what happened in their loved one's death, stating multiple inconsistencies about how he died.
Milburn stated that her son fell and hit his head earlier that day at around 4:15 p.m. He was then found unresponsive later hours later, according to family members.
The body camera footage released to 11Alive from the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office is 14 minutes long, dated March 13. It starts around 7:37 p.m. and ends at 7:51 p.m.
The video starts with Collins on a cot, lying unresponsive as an officer tries to wake him up.
"You sure he's alright. Nah, he's not moving," the officer says in the first few seconds of the video.
Multiple other inmates were surrounding Collins at the time the officer started checking on Collins' pulse.
The officer then asked if he (Collins) smoked something; one of the inmates responded, saying, "Nah, man."
An inmate and the officer continue to check to see if Collins's heart is beating and if he has a pulse.
At least over a minute into the video, the officer taps his baton on the floor to try and wake Collins, but he doesn't move.
The officer then left the room to tell the other guards, who were in what looked like a security room, that Collins was not moving.
He (the officer) then walked back and forth between the door where Collins was and the security guard's room.
Almost three minutes into the video, the officer tells all the inmates to go back to their cells and converses with an inmate about food for about 30 seconds.
After telling the inmates to get back in their rooms, he walks back to the unresponsive Army veteran, calling his name to wake him up and checking his pulse.
RELATED: Grieving mom: 'There’s no way that a veteran that has served our country should die in a jail cell'
The officer continues walking back and forth to the door of the cell block and Collins.
At around six minutes into the video, the officer walks back out of the cell block and walks to the security guard deck. He then radios that an inmate is unresponsive.
As he goes into the security guard shack, one of the guards asks if the inmate is breathing, and he says, "I don't know, I can't see."
"I don't know what he got going on, but like he's sleeping, but he's not aware," the officer and the guard said in conversation.
"I hope he's not dead," a guard told the officer.
The officer then responds to the guard, "We are going to have to write a big report."
Around seven minutes into the video, an infirmary doctor comes into the cell block with a stretcher. The officer tells all the other inmates to get in their rooms.
He then identifies the unresponsive inmate as Collins to the infirmary doctor.
Two inmates then help the doctor and the officer onto the stretcher.
Collins's body is finally rolled out of the cell block at around 10 minutes into the video. The officer continues calling Collins's name one more time.
The infirmary doctor says they will take him to "medical."
"We got to make sure he good," the office says in the video. He then tells the infirmary doctor to hold on and then cuffs an unresponsive Collins's wrist to the stretcher at 11 minutes and 30 seconds into the video.
A pulse oximeter is then put on Collins's finger to check for a pulse. At this point in the video, it's unclear if Collins does not have a pulse.
"I hope he is not dead," the officer said.
The officer gets into an elevator with the infirmary doctor. At 13 minutes in, the body camera footage shows the infirmary doctor wheeling Collins down a hall into the infirmary room.
The video ends there. Collins still has not moved at this point.
DeKalb County Sheriff's Office also released a redacted incident report, which stated that at 7:33 p.m., the officer noticed animated lifting Collins out of Pod 200, and his arms fell to the floor. The officer stated that they asked over the intercom if the inmate was breathing, and the other inmates replied, "Yes, he is breathing."
The same officer recounted some of what happened in the video but noted what happened after the video ended.
Reports stated that the officer then started giving Collins CPR at 7:55 p.m., just minutes after he entered the infirmary. A few sergeants entered the room minutes later. Around 8 p.m., a lieutenant then entered the floor but not the clinic.
Around 8:10 p.m., a nurse then administered Narcan to Collins. More paramedics came into the clinic.
Collins was taken to the Emory Decatur shortly after the incident. He died two days later.
The family stated in their new conference that the county's autopsy and toxicology reports and their independent autopsy and toxicology reports were inconsistent and didn't line up. It's unclear exactly when the family performed their independent autopsy. Family members also claimed there were bruises on Collins's body, showing photos at a press conference to reporters.
Later, 11Alive obtained a copy of the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office autopsy report.
The report stated that Collins died from "hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy as a consequence of cardiorespiratory arrest and resuscitation associated with fentanyl abuse."
Medical examiner's ruled his death an accident. The report also added that Collins "was thought to have possibly taken some type of illicit drug based upon his behavior at that time."
It's unclear if and how fentanyl got into his system or if and how it got into the jail at this time.
The autopsy report's narrative also stated that after he was taken to Emory Decatur, he received "ongoing life support measures."
11Alive reached out to the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office for comment, where they released the following statement:
While Sheriff Maddox continues to express condolences to the Collins family, the County Attorney has advised that it would be inappropriate to comment on this potential legal matter.