Mother demands justice and will take legal action

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

0 Less than a minute

ATLANTA – The mother of a Fulton County Jail inmate who was stabbed to death in April said she plans to take legal action.

Donna Fortner, Leonard Fortner's mother, traveled from Texas to Atlanta to seek justice for her son and others.

“Leonard meant so much to our family, and to come here and be killed the way he was, that’s why we’re here,” Fortner told reporters.

Leonard Fortner

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Leonard Fortner

Lawyers representing the Fortner family and relatives of other inmates who also died at the Fulton County Jail said more must be done to improve conditions at the Rice Street facility and reduce the number of people imprisoned on criminal charges. minors. infractions.

“This young man did not deserve to die,” said the family's attorney, CK Hoffler. “Like all these other people.”

PREVIOUS STORIES FROM THE FULTON COUNTY JAIL

The group, made up of the Fortner family and relatives of other deceased inmates, plans to take legal action to protect inmates at the facility. Twenty-eight inmates have died in prison since 2022.

Leonard Fortner, 37, was killed while in custody at the jail on a misdemeanor charge of criminal property damage in April.

“We are here to carry the burden of others and make sure that no one else gets this information overnight, or gets a death sentence for their child,” Fortner said. “That’s why we’re here for Leonard.”

Hoffler said the family will file a lawsuit within the next 30 days.