DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The family of a 24-year-old man who was found dead inside the DeKalb County Jail is demanding answers, saying he died just 48 hours after he was booked.
According to the family, David Addo Wright had posted bond and was expected to be released soon. Instead, his father says Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents came to the family’s home Thursday morning to tell them Wright had been killed inside the jail.
David Wright was arrested last week after what his family’s attorneys say was a fight that led to a struggle over a gun that accidentally discharged.
“Dad, I messed up. I got into a fight. I was arrested,” Darren Wright recalled his son telling him during what would be their final conversation.
The family told Channel 2’s Ashlynn Webb it was his first and only arrest.
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“But that still does not give the system, or individuals within that system, the right to take my son’s life,” Darren Wright said. “They failed David.”
Loved ones described Wright as a former Clark Atlanta University student who was active in his community and in the process of enlisting in the U.S. Marines.
“This is a young man who was moving in the right direction,” his father said.
“He was an amazing brother, he was an amazing uncle to my son. He was always there,” said Aisha Wright, David Wright’s older sister.
Aisha Wright, who is also a criminal defense attorney, said she never imagined her family would find itself in this position.
“My job is to protect the constitutional rights of those accused of crimes,” Aisha Wright said. “I never in a million years would have imagined that the same system, I would be on the other side of that, and that the system took my brother from me because of their failure to act,” she said.
Attorney alleges six men attacked Wright inside his cell
The family’s attorney, Mawuli Davis, claims six men entered Wright’s cell and attacked him.
Davis also alleges that the locks on Wright’s cell were broken and that jail staff failed to conduct routine checks.
“It is our understanding that it is in excess of 45 minutes, approaching an hour, after the attack and before anyone came to render aid,” Davis said. “This should not have happened.”
In the hours before his death, Wright’s family say they received calls from people believed to be gang members inside the jail who demanded money in an attempt to extort the family.
“It’s their phone and that you have to pay to use their phone. And that you had to pay for your own safety,” Davis said.
The family’s attorneys believe those calls may be connected to the motive behind the attack.
Neither the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office nor the GBI would comment to Webb on the allegations made by Wright’s family and attorneys.
The agencies also declined to say whether any suspects have been identified in Wright’s death.
The family says they are demanding answers and wants to make sure there is a thorough investigation.
“He did not need to die violently,” Darren Wright said.
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