ICYMI: DeKalb Jail Inmate Allegedly Severely Beaten

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Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office

A DeKalb County jail inmate is fighting for his life at Grady Memorial Hospital after his family says he was savagely beaten while behind bars last weekend.

Mario Roberts, 32, was arrested last Friday and charged with public intoxication and soliciting a ride, according to jail records. Roberts’ family tells WSB-TV that someone at the jail beat him so badly that he is now “brain dead.” An attorney for the family says preliminary investigations show Roberts might have started a fight with a fellow inmate.

The attorney says that he is confident that DeKalb County Sheriff Jeff Mann and his investigators will get to the bottom of the incident and give Roberts’ family more information and closure; the sheriff’s office did not comment on the matter, as it is the subject of an ongoing investigation.

The beating is the latest controversy to come from the jail; earlier this month, news broke of a former jail inmate who claimed a jail employee stole her engagement ring after she had been processed. After five months of investigation, a jail employee was arrested and charged with the theft. She was also fired and lost her state law enforcement certification.