The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Jenna Mitchell, a 25-year-old trans female inmate who committed suicide at Valdosta State Prison December 6, 2017, by hanging herself in her cell.
The prison system had agreed this week to pay a $2.2 million settlement to her parents. The four defendants who were named in the lawsuit are the GDC, the warden at the time, Don Blakely, a correctional officer at the time, James Igou, and the Georgia Board of Regents.
The regents board is named because it manages Augusta University’s program called Georgia Correctional Healthcare, which provides health care for inmates, including mental health care. “The financial settlement is barely nudging any kind