While jail staff failed to recognize and adequately address the mental state and physical decline of a man who died in a Georgia jail from complications of dehydration, no one intentionally or criminally caused his death, a special investigative grand jury found.
Shali Tilson was arrested in March 2018 on misdemeanor charges of obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct and booked into the Rockdale County jail, about 25 miles east of Atlanta. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner’s office found that he died nine days later from blood clots in his lungs caused by severe dehydration.
After reviewing the GBI file and investigating on her own, Rockdale County District Attorney Alisha said in a statement this week that she decided the case merited a deeper look. A special investigative grand jury was formed in May to examine the circumstances surrounding Tilson’s death.
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