Colin Kaepernick to pay for independent autopsy in death of man in Georgia jail

Former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick will pay for an independent autopsy for a Georgia man who died in custody last year, his attorney has announced.

Lashawn Thompson died in the Fulton County Jail, near Atlanta, last September in questionable conditions. A medical examiner’s report found Thompson had an “extremely severe” infestation of small insects across his body but did not determine a cause of death.

The poor conditions of the jail started protests and resulted in three jail officials resigning.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) launched a Justice Department probe into the jail and two other county jails over the death of Thompson and other reports.

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat apologized to Thompson’s family, saying his department was slow to respond to the death and that the jail has been in “crisis mode.”

“The type of infestations that contributed to Mr. Thompson’s death are going to be a recurring problem in a jail where hundreds of detainees do not have cells and have to sleep on the floor,” Labat said in a statement.

An attorney for the family said they plan to sue over Thompson’s death once the independent autopsy is completed.

In 2022, Kaepernick announced he would pay for independent autopsies of those killed by police. That program funded 42 autopsies in its first year, according to Sports Illustrated.