This post was originally published on this site.
The family of U.S. Army veteran Private Christon Collins has filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, claiming jail staff allowed him to lie on the floor for more than three hours after overdosing on fentanyl inside the county detention center.
The lawsuit was announced Tuesday, on what would have been Collins’ 29th birthday. It came the same day the inmate accused of providing Collins the drugs, identified as Tobias Woods, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“They are seeking full justice, full accountability,” attorney Ben Crump said.
Crump said surveillance video shows Collins collapsed after taking fentanyl inside the jail in March 2024 and did not receive medical aid for hours. He accused deputies and jail contractors of ignoring Collins as he was dying.
“We think the sheriff of DeKalb County got blood on their hands. We think the jailers who were on their phones while Christian lay dying got blood on their hands,” Crump said.
Collins’ mother, Jonia Melburn, said Woods’ sentence is only a fraction of the accountability she is seeking.
“Tobias Woods was charged. That doesn’t satisfy me,” she said. “He was an inmate, not a worker of the jail. He wasn’t under Tobias’ care. He was under the jail’s care.”
Crump said the lawsuit names the sheriff, jail staff and EMTs, alleging constitutional violations and wrongful death.
“We believe him laying on that jail floor in the DeKalb County detention facility for over three hours was not only a shame before God but also deliberate indifference for a human life, which is a Constitution violation in the United States of America,” Crump said.
Melburn said she promised her son she would not stop fighting.
“He did his best in everything he did, and now I’m letting him know not only did I fight, but I got the best lawyers to fight with us,” she said.
A spokesperson for the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said, “In light of potential litigation, the sheriff’s office is unable to provide comment.”
Collins, a U.S. Army veteran, had been in and out of the DeKalb County Jail over several years while dealing with documented mental-health issues.
An autopsy determined he died from a fentanyl overdose in March 2024 after drugs were allegedly sold to him and at least one other inmate inside the jail.
His family has publicly questioned how the contraband entered what is supposed to be a secured facility and has pushed for policy changes to protect mentally vulnerable detainees.
The judge held off on sentencing of Woods so the family could attend the sentencing after he accepted a plea deal.
