The dilapidated,mismanaged Terrell County Jail was the scene of another
suicide in December when an Alabama black male being
held on criminal trespassing charges managed to wrap a towel around his neck and stranggled himself.It was the secound
suicide followed by several other suicides comitted by black males in Terrell County Jail.In August a black male prisoner who was suppose to be on suicide watch was able to tie a bed sheet into a noose and hanged himself.On December 10,2004,James Michael Goodwin which is also A black male killed himself in jail about 14hrs after also being arrested and charged with criminal trespassing jailers found his body at 5pm that day. Also following this death is the suicide of Michael Vanzant,another victim that fell prey in the tragic incidents that has been happening in the Jail."The Terrell County Jail is one of the states worst jail facilities said Rev.Ezekiel Holley president of the Terrell County branch of the NAACP. Not only is this jail in horrible physical shape,but the sheriff and his staff don't seem to know how to properly operate the facilities.The prison and jail project and the NAACP called for the jail to be shut down because the 30 bed facility is not fit for human habitation.In 1995 the prison and jail project brought the U.S.Department's Civil Rights Division to Dawson and ten other southwest Georgia counties to investigate unconstitutional jailhouse
conditions.Those investigations resulted in the USDOJ ordering 11 county jails to clean up or close down. Among conditions the Justice Department citied Terrell Countys jail were for substandard plumbing in adequate fire safety unsanitary conditions poor ventilation lack of indoor and outdoor exercise insufficient medical care.Most of the jails responded,but Terrell County Jail did not.In June 2004 A lawsuit was filed by the Justice Department in Albany's federal district court asking that judge Louis Sands take steps to close the jail.The lawsuit is still pending,a hearing on the matter will supposedly take place sometime this year.With Terrell County jail refusing to step to the demands of the USDOJ there will be more suicides comitted amoung black african american males.