27-year-old veteran’s last moments in DeKalb jail: video deepens mystery for family

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The mother of a 27-year-old Army veteran who died in the DeKalb County Jail is seeking answers after viewing video footage of her son’s last moments.

The footage, she hoped, would provide clarity; instead, it has only added to her questions.

Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes watched the video with Jonia Milburn, the mother of Christon Collins, and sought a response from Sheriff Melody Maddox.

Maddox declined to comment on why Collins, who suffered from PTSD, was not checked on by officers for nearly three hours, citing the potential for a future lawsuit.

“I thought that the least we could’ve done was got some answers from her after watching the video,” said Milburn. “And now I need more answers.”

The security footage shows Collins experiencing an episode in the day room of the jail.

On March 13, around 4 p.m., Collins walked out of his jail cell into the day room.

He briefly spoke with another inmate before collapsing and hitting his head.

Inmates then carried him into a cell, where they stayed for 30 minutes. They eventually dragged Collins out and left him on the floor for more than two hours.

“I don’t know what they were doing or where they dragged him,” Collins’ father said.

Officers only discovered Collins was dead when they attempted to serve dinner to the inmates.

“To have him lie on the floor like that — not one person — other than the inmates, that’s not their jobs,” Milburn said. “Somebody should’ve seen something at some point.”

An internal investigation revealed discrepancies.

Although one officer claimed there was no security assigned to the floor where Collins died, other officers reported they were monitoring the cameras.

“She wrote that she was watching the cameras all day. She wrote that Officer Mitchell was watching and had been on the floor all day checking. Did they check everywhere but that area? Or that pod? I mean there’s no explanation,” Milburn said.

One officer was reprimanded for negligence, and another was disciplined for using her phone when she was supposed to be watching the screens.

Despite these findings, the family has not received further information from the sheriff, who remains silent on the issue.