Attorney: Shelby County inmate who died was infested with insects

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has been retained by the family of an inmate who died after he was found unresponsive at the Shelby County Jail.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, on January 10, 42-year-old Ramon McGhee was found unresponsive and taken to the hospital. He died in the hospital two days later.

TBI investigating Shelby County jail inmate death

Crump says family members say that McGhee was covered in a massive amount of lice and bed bugs when he arrived at the hospital. Crump issued the following statement:

“Ramon’s condition upon arrival at the hospital, infested with insects and covered in bites, is truly chilling. How long was this negligence and mistreatment going on for his body to be overtaken by lice and bed bugs? One can only imagine the severity of Ramon’s suffering.

“We have long been calling out the many abuses at Shelby County Jail and we now have a clearer picture of the true inhabitable nature of that facility. The time is now for the federal government to strongly intervene to ensure that this jail is reformed from the inside out so that nobody else has to suffer the same fate as Ramon.”

The TBI is still investigating the events surrounding McGhee’s death.

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