FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Shamar McLeroy was facing some serious charges, including child molestation and public indecency.
But his family said he wasn’t given a death sentence and there is no excuse for his death here at the Fulton County Jail.
“The chaplain called me and said on the paperwork he had, it said it’s a homicide,” McLeroy’s grandmother said.
Her grandson, McLeroy, whom she had raised since he was a toddler, was gone at just 21.
It’s still a shock for Rosie Gray.
“I don’t get no sleep just thinking about him,” she said.
Shamar’s family said they discovered the news themselves online.
“When we checked it, it said deceased,” said McLeroy’s aunt Serintha Gray.
She rushed to the jail last week.
“They said he is deceased — he was strangled. Detective Hogan explained that he was bound, his hands and feet were bound, and they wrapped him up like a mummy and laid him back in the bed,” Serintha Gray said.
Shamar is the 10th inmate dead at the Fulton County Jail since Jan. 1.
The deaths are a combination of suicide, homicide, and medical issues. The jail is dealing with overcrowding and staffing issues.
Earlier this month, Channel 2 learned more than 450 inmates were sleeping in “boats” on the floor, but a plan to move hundreds of inmates to the Atlanta City Detention Center is on hold while a jail population review is conducted.
Shamar’s family said all of that is too late for him.
“I want to see justice, something needs to be done, Fulton County Jail should be held accountable for what happened to my nephew,” Serintha Gray said.
“I said, well he will be safer in jail than on the street but I got to admit I was wrong, it’s not safe in that jail for nobody,” Rosie Gray said.