The Fulton County Jail is shown on April 11, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback, File)/Booking photo Michael Holland Fulton County Jail.
Michael Anthony Holland has been awaiting justice from his jail cell in Fulton County, Georgia, since last May after he was charged with the aggravated assault of a police officer. On Wednesday, he was found unresponsive in his prison cell and unable to be revived.
Holland, 36, died at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement provided to Law&Crime on Wednesday. He was found in his cell during the early morning hours Wednesday as an officer was doing security rounds, a news release said. An “advanced medical team” was brought in to help and he was transported to Grady but without success.
It is not clear what precisely afflicted Holland but an autopsy report is now being conducted and police are investigating his death.
Holland was arrested in May 2023 on allegations that he assaulted a police officer at the East Point Police Department and that he willfully obstructed an officer as well. He had three willful obstruction counts against him and all included “use of threats or violence,” police said.
Holland was being detained on $55,000 bond.
A Justice Department investigation into the conditions at the Fulton County jail was opened last July after reports surfaced of miserable and inhumane conditions, including revelations that one inmate with schizophrenia was found dead in his cell, his body riddled with insect bites. The man, LaShawn Thompson, appeared to be “eaten alive” according to his family, and an independent medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. The family settled with the jail in August.
Ten people died in Fulton County custody last year, according to the sheriff’s office.
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