An attorney representing the family of Carlos Shelley, who died in 2022 while on suicide watch at the Bibb County Jail, is seeking court intervention to obtain records from local officials. The lawsuit, filed against Sheriff David Davis and other jail employees in 2024, alleges they failed to prevent Shelley’s death after an altercation with another inmate, Joseph Moore.
Michael Hill, the attorney for Shelley’s surviving children Ashanti Williams and Carlos Jackson, requested documents from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office. Hill asked for information about deaths at the jail since 2020, staffing reports dating back to 2017, communications about staffing conditions, and other administrative records. He also sought case files related to deaths of incarcerated people at the facility, including that of deputy Christopher Knight in 2021.
Hill argued in correspondence with Charles Adams, attorney for Sheriff Davis: “The documents that we requested are direct evidence of that knowledge and the pattern of unconstitutional conduct that created unsafe conditions of confinement leading to Mr. Shelley’s death.”
In his filings, Hill also stated: “We cannot … ignore the connection between poor detention conditions and tragic outcomes like this case. The evidence suggests that past institutional practices administering ‘jail justice’ to inmates contributed to circumstances that led to Deputy Knight’s death.”
County officials have resisted these requests. Adams wrote in an email: “we feel that your … Request for Production of Documents is to a great extent irrelevant and overbroad.” He added: “Moreover, responding to it would involve an untold amount of man-hours, at substantial cost to the Sheriff’s Department and the taxpayers, something I think would be of concern to the Court, in light of the very tenuous relevance of many of these requests.”
Cindy Adams, chief of appeals for the district attorney’s office, cited a pending felony murder case against Moore as a reason not to release certain records. She said disclosure could harm or prejudice prosecution efforts against Moore. Cindy Adams also contended that Hill did not file his request within required time limits and asked for dismissal.
A hearing before Senior Judge Richard Winegarden is scheduled Friday to determine whether any records must be turned over.
