By Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A former Fulton County Jail guard was arrested Friday on charges she hit an inmate in the head with a milk crate while the prisoner was handcuffed.
Denita Shaw, 41, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Gerrilyn Brill briefly Friday afternoon before she was released on a non-monetary bond.
According to a federal indictment returned Tuesday, Shaw attacked the inmate on Jan. 26 and “this assault violated the inmate’s constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process.”
Fulton Sheriff Ted Jackson said Shaw was fired on Aug. 29 and “our office is cooperating fully in this prosecution. We are continuing to work with the FBI to investigate any and all violations within the jail. And anyone with information about any other abuses should contact our office or the FBI.”
Shaw had worked at the jail since March 2001.
If she is convicted, Shaw could be sentenced to as much as 10 years in prison and fined up to $250,000.
“Policies and procedures are in place … to ensure that inmates under the control of its correctional officers are handled appropriately and within the confines of the law,” Greg Jones, special agent in charge of the Atlanta FBI office, said in a written statement. “The FBI is very clear on its role of investigating and enforcing violations of federal civil rights laws including when those violations occur within a correctional facility and by a sworn law enforcement officer.”
The Shaw case is the latest to come to federal court in Atlanta involving allegations of inmate abuse.
Just a few days before Shaw left the agency in late August, another officer, former Lt. Earl Glenn, pleaded guilty to abusing inmates and then lying to federal agents investigating reports of the beatings. A second jail officer, former Lt. Robert Hill, was charged along with Glenn, for allegedly beating Christopher Trammell while he was shackled; Hill pleaded not guilty to those charges.
And Curtis Jerome Brown Jr. and Mitnee Markette Jones pleaded guilty earlier to obstruction charges involving the federal investigation at the jail. Brown also was charged with beating a mentally ill inmate, who later died.
