U.S. Army veteran dies after spending nearly six weeks in DeKalb County jail, family says

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A mother is demanding answers after her son, a U.S. Army veteran, died while in custody of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office last week.

Christon Collins, 27, died on March 15 in the hospital.

The sheriff’s office said in a statement that he experienced a medical emergency in his jail cell on March 13.

Deputies said an on-site medical team responded and rendered emergency services until paramedics arrived and took Collins to a local hospital.

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His mother, Jonia Milburn, told Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco that she rushed to the metro from Houston when deputies called her.

“There’s many answers that I want.  I have no idea what happened. All I know is I got a call. I got here. My son was on maximum life support, and we had to make a decision,” said Milburn.

She said deputies initially allowed her, Collins’ father and one of his sisters to have one last visit with him in the hospital. She called them back to get permission for his second sister to visit him one last time.

“Once they realized that he was a veteran and that he had mental illness, they approved for everybody to go see him,” said Milburn.

He died on March 15.

Milburn said her son struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since returning from deployment in 2018. She said he’d been in and out of jail while she tried to get him proper treatment in a hospital. She said she tried working with the Veterans Affairs case workers, doctors, nurses, deputies, police, Congress and Georgia lawmakers.

“I’ve been fighting this fight for the last five years,” said Milburn.

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Civil rights leaders with DeKalb County NAACP and Justice 4 Veterans joined her outside the jail to send a message to the sheriff Thursday.

Amos King is a retired Lt. Col. for the U.S. Army and the president of Justice 4 Veterans.

He said veterans need to be aware they can ask to be transferred to military court when facing minor charges in jail. He said to always alert law enforcement if you have a PTSD diagnosis if you can.

“The sheriff hasn’t even called and told them condolences,” said King. “I can tell you this much. When you’re dealing with mental illness, this is not the last time this is going to happen.”

The Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office had no comment in response to Thursday’s gathering outside the jail. The Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office said Collins is the first inmate to die while in custody this year. Four inmates died while in custody in 2023.

Channel 2 Action News reached out to the medical examiner’s office to find out if a preliminary cause of death has been declared. We are waiting for a response.

Collins’ mother said the county is allowing her to take his body back to Houston Thursday.

“There are a lot of other Christons in the jail, a lot that need to be in the hospital,” said Milburn.

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