FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A 36-year-old man who died after being found unresponsive at the Fulton County Jail in January was "dragged and carried three times between and inside the cells" before staff noticed, according to an autopsy report.
11Alive obtained the autopsy report on Friday. It classifies the cause of death for Michael Holland as undetermined.
Holland, according to the report, arrived at Grady in cardiac arrest and was "suspected to have possibly ingested a synthetic cannabinoid before his death," though toxicology results did not detect a synthetic cannabinoid. Before he was transported to the hospital, the report states he and three other inmates were inside a cell "with the cell door closed and covered with a blanket."
"When the cell door was opened approximately eight minutes later, two inmates exited the cell, one inmate was seen lying on a mattress and the decedent (or person who died, Holland) was unresponsive on the floor," the report adds.
There is no indication from the report what happened inside the obscured cell during those eight minutes.
"During the next approximately one hour and 13 minutes, the unresponsive decedent was dragged and carried three times between and inside the cells before being observed by staff," the report further states. "Resuscitative efforts were initiated by Fulton County Jail staff and naloxone was administered."
The report does not analyze what, if any, effect any of these events or factors had in contributing to Holland's death.
Holland had been in jail since May 2023, 11Alive reported in January, waiting to find out if the DA’s office was going to prosecute him on charges of Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer and Obstruction.
More than two dozen inmates have died either in custody or following medical emergencies at the jail since January 2022.
The Department of Justice opened a civil investigation on July 13, 2023.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat released a statement at that time saying he met with DOJ officials and the jail is fully prepared to cooperate with the investigation.
"The humanitarian crisis at the Fulton County Rice Street Jail is not new. Recognizing the systemic concerns that have plagued the Fulton County Jail for decades, I contacted DOJ’s National Institute of Corrections (NIC) in September of 2022, making an urgent request for a security audit, technical assistance and support surrounding the circumstances at the jail," Labat wrote in the statement in part.
So far, no findings from the federal investigation have been released.
The most recent death at the jail occurred this week when 37-year-old Leonard Fortner was stabbed to death by another inmate.
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