Civil-rights lawyers and family demand independent probe after detainee loses limbs amid allegations of delayed care at Fulton County Jail

Ben Crump, the civil-rights attorney, told the Fulton County Board of Commissioners during public comment that the case of detainee Rashad Mohammed exposed systemic failures at the Fulton County Jail. "He told them that it was a matter of his life or death," Crump said, summarizing Mohammed’s repeated requests for care. "He went into custody with his legs and fingers, and he came out with neither," Eric Kurtz, another attorney representing Mohammed, added.

The visitors’ testimony — including a direct account from Mohammed, who said he lay on the floor and finally was taken by stretcher to Grady Memorial Hospital — prompted repeated calls from speakers and several commissioners for an outside investigation. Mohammed described multiple missed medication requests and a delayed stretcher call that led to care at Grady, where surgeons later amputated his limbs.

Lisa Park, senior attorney at Ben Crump Law, repeatedly called the outcome "preventable": "Preventable. Preventable. Preventable," she said, arguing that a bottle of antibiotics could have averted months of hospital care and irreversible loss for the man and his family.

Commissioners pressed county staff and the sheriff's office for answers. Several commissioners, including Vice Chair Abdul Rahman and Commissioner Thorn, publicly urged that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) or another independent body review the case; one commissioner said the sheriff had contacted the GBI. "We need an investigation," Commissioner Arrington said during the board discussion, adding that the sheriff’s office should not investigate itself.

County and legal staff cautioned that some records and investigative steps are exempt from public disclosure while litigation is pending or a formal review is underway. The board’s county attorney advised caution about public disclosures that might affect pending or anticipated litigation. Commissioners said they would request and review investigation results when available and pursue accountability based on those findings.

Background and next steps: speakers at the meeting repeatedly linked Mohammed’s case to a pattern of harms cited in the U.S. Department of Justice findings about the Fulton County jail system. Lawyers for Mohammed asked the commission to demand records identifying who decided to retain the current medical provider and to open an independent review that would produce a public timeline of events. Several commissioners said they plan to press for outside review and for the board to be briefed on findings, while noting that formal authority to suspend an elected sheriff rests with the governor under Georgia law.

The commission did not take a formal vote on discipline or removal; several members said they would seek independent investigations and push for transparency from the sheriff’s office and the county’s medical contractor. The board’s next regular meeting was expected to include standing updates on jail-population-reduction initiatives that commissioners said they want tied to measurable outcomes.