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ATLANTA, Ga. (InvestigateTV) — A Georgia mother said her mentally ill son died of hypothermia while in the custody of a DeKalb County jail, and she is seeking accountability. A federal lawsuit alleges deputies knew he was cold and failed to protect him.
Anthony Lamar Walker, 34, was arrested Dec. 18, 2022, on a charge of aggravated assault. Eight days later, on Dec. 26, he was found dead in his cell. The DeKalb County medical examiner determined the cause of death was hypothermia.
From the moment Walker arrived at the DeKalb County Detention Center, jail staff noticed something was wrong.
“Just his behaviors were very erratic over the last few days,” one deputy said in a sheriff’s office interrogation video.
“He bangs a lot. He yells a lot, and he paces a lot,” another said.
Walker was not eating. He urinated on his clothes and threw his food tray.
His mother, Toni Walker, says her son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was experiencing a mental health crisis. According to his medical records, the jail was aware of his mental illness and had treated him before.
“I figured, OK, great — not great that he’s here, but at least he’s somewhere I know where he is and he’ll get medicated properly,” Toni Walker said.
Jail records show medical staff did not perform CPR on Anthony Lamar Walker.
A dispatch recording captured the moment: “Can you make contact with EMS and have EMS en route to the DeKalb County jail in reference to a possible deceased male inmate?”
He was found naked and cold to the touch the day after Christmas.
“Unbelievable,” Toni Walker said. “Like, I feel like I’m in a hell episode of ‘The Twilight Zone.’ You let a person freeze to death? No one did their job.”
Days before Walker was found dead, jail staff had sent an email reminding employees to prepare for the cold weather and to give inmates two blankets each.
Security video shows jail staff wearing winter jackets inside the facility while Walker lay naked on a concrete slab.
A wrongful-death lawsuit filed in federal court claims the sheriff’s office and medical staff failed to protect Walker, alleging that he received no medication, no mental health screenings and that staff did not adequately check on his wellbeing.
A nurse claimed she checked on Anthony Lamar Walker around 7 a.m. — hours before he was found dead — but security video contradicts the account. It shows the nurse walking into the jail pod shortly after 7 a.m. but never checking inside his cell before walking away.
“And they did nothing,” Toni Walker said. “How do you treat somebody like that? Just leave him in a cell on the floor, naked when it’s freezing — all you’ve got to do is open the door.”
Toni Walker knows the jail well. She served as a DeKalb County deputy at the same facility for nearly 23 years and was once awarded employee of the month.
“I used to be very proud of the fact that I worked there,” she said. “But now, I’m embarrassed. I’m upset. I’m hurt. I’m deeply hurt.”
An internal investigation by the sheriff’s staff found that jail employees did not violate any policies, a conclusion Toni Walker called “a real slap in the face.”
“So, you tell me you saw no wrong with it when you didn’t even do your job,” she said.
According to court documents, Maddox has asked a federal judge to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit, arguing she is protected by sovereign immunity under the Georgia Constitution — a legal doctrine that shields the government from being sued.…Read more by Andy Pierrotti