Another person has died after being incarcerated at the Fulton County Jail. In the early morning hours of Oct. 4, Horace Gibbs, age 63, was discovered unresponsive when his cellmate, Ernest Johnson, age 52, notified deputies.
Gibbs was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was performed by the Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office that ruled Gibbs’ death a homicide. The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division has charged Johnson with felony murder and aggravated assault strangulation. Gibbs and Johnson are Fulton County Jail residents housed at the Cobb County Jail.
On September 2, 2022, Gibbs was arrested by the Atlanta Police Department for criminal trespass, willful obstruction of law enforcement officer, and simple battery against police officer/police dog/corrections or detention officer and was being held on a $12,500 bond.
Ernest Johnson was arrested on September 6, 2024 by the Union City Police Department for three counts of terrorist threats and acts and two counts of willful obstruction of law enforcement officer and is being held on a $6,500 bond.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office outsources residents to Cobb County, Oconee County, and the Atlanta City Detention Center.
It sheds light on deeper issues at the jail. On Jan.10, Michael Anthony Holland, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Rice Street Jail. He was later pronounced dead after being transported to Grady Memorial Hospital.
In 2023, 10 inmates died at the jail. The deaths occurred during a time when the national media focused on the Fulton County Jail after former President Donald Trump was being booked at the facility on a RICO charge in August of 2023.
But unlike the former president, many of the people who are booked into the jail aren’t able to post bond and leave within an hour. The horror stories emanating from detainees and visitors to the Rice Street facility has remained consistent.
*A previous version of this story stated that Gibbs died at the Fulton County Jail. Gibbs did not die at the jail, he was found unresponsive at the jail and died after being rushed to the hospital.
