DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office reports third inmate death in 2023

The most recent death occurred on Wednesday, July 19. Atlanta resident Ricky Lavoghn McCullum, 58, was returned to the jail that evening, after having been released from the hospital following a nine-day stay while still in custody, the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office stated in a news release.  Preliminary incident reports indicate that McCullum became unresponsive while in the jail’s intake area before being escorted to a housing unit. He did not respond to emergency medical services administered by officers, on-site medical staff, and DeKalb EMS before being pronounced deceased.

McCullum had been in custody since June 3, 2023 after arrest by police on warrants charging him with Criminal Trespass and Obstruction of Law Enforcement Officer, both misdemeanors, after refusing to vacate the premises of a closed shopping center in Chamblee, Georgia. McCullum remained in custody after receiving a $1,000 bond and refused to agree that he would not return to the shopping center – a condition of the bon, the Sheriff’s Office stated.

The incident remains under investigation by the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards. No cause of death has been released, pending reports from the Medical Examiner’s Office.

In June, another inmate in custody at the DeKalb County Jail was reported deceased.

“On June 28, 2023, officers were alerted that 37-year old [man from] Birmingham, Alabama was bleeding from numerous lacerations on his body while in his jail cell,” a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office says. “Emergency medical services were performed on site by jail and health services staff and DeKalb Fire Rescue EMS, but efforts to revive [the inmate] after he became unresponsive were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced deceased. The cause of death has not been released but preliminary reports indicate that his wounds may have been self-inflicted.”

The first death in 2023 at the DeKalb County jail occurred on May 29, 2023.

“Doraville, Georgia resident Enil Guillen, 20, was found hanging in his jail cell and unresponsive on Monday, May 29, 2023. He was pronounced deceased following unsuccessful emergency medical treatment by on-site inmate health services and DeKalb EMS. Preliminary reports indicate suicide as the possible cause of death,” the Sheriff’s Office stated in a press release. “Mr. Guillen had been in custody of the DeKalb County Jail since his arrest on May 11, 2023, by Dunwoody Police Department on warrants for Felony Theft by Taking and Driving Without a License. The incident remains under investigation by the sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards.”

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