Man held at Bibb County Jail was beaten by others, ‘left for dead,’ lawsuit alleges
A former inmate at the Bibb County Jail alleges he was “left for dead” for three days after other inmates attacked him, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Joshua Ballard, who was held at the local jail awaiting trial, alleges other inmates in unlocked cells beat him severely and staff at the jail didn’t realize he had been badly assaulted, according to the lawsuit. Ballard’s cell also was unlocked when the attack happened, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit filed against Sheriff David Davis, Major Brad Wolfe, Captain Brannon Grace and Major Eric Woodford of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office alleges they were negligent and deliberately indifferent in the way Ballard was treated after his attack.
Ballard alleges he was left untreated, slipping in and out of consciousness for three days and only discovered when deputies looked for him so he could attend a court hearing.
After being treated at a hospital, he was released from jail on March 16, 2023, on his own recognizance “due to the severity of his medical issues and the general disregard the Defendants and other employees of the Bibb (Law Enforcement Center) had for his wellbeing,” his lawsuit alleges.
Davis, Wolfe, Grace and Woodford are accused of not enforcing policies, such as performing headcounts and security inspections regularly and not addressing the conditions of the failing jail locks. By not enforcing these policies, they created “a substantial risk to those individuals detained therein of serious harm in the form of injury or death at the hands of other incarcerated individuals,” the lawsuit said.
Ballard is requesting a jury trial, and wants judgment against Davis, Wolfe, Grace and Woodford. He’s being represented by lawyer Kenneth Barton III.
“We are familiar with the lawsuit and the county attorney will be responding through the court process,” the sheriff said in a statement Monday evening.
Ballard was in hospital for three weeks
Ballard was booked into the Bibb County Jail on Nov. 18, 2022, for charges of possessing a controlled substance, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, criminal trespassing and theft by receiving stolen property. He was allegedly caught with methamphetamine and a gun as he cut the fence of a car repair shop and stole someone’s car keys, court documents show.
He was attacked by two inmates who went into his unlocked cell on Feb. 6, 2023, at around 2 a.m., his lawsuit says. Their cells were also unlocked, according to court documents. The two inmates pulled Ballard out of his cell and attacked him under the stairs of the cell block’s dayroom for more than 30 minutes, the suit says.
“The two individuals then poured water over Mr. Ballard, and they continued beating him until he became unconscious again before they dragged Mr. Ballard to Cell 3 where they left his severely injured body in the cell in an unconscious state,” the lawsuit said.
Ballard was left in the cell without receiving any medical assistance until Feb. 9, 2023, when deputies were looking for him to transport him to a scheduled court appearance. He was treated at Atrium Health Navicent hospital for nearly three weeks afterward.
Once Ballard regained consciousness, a deputy had to explain to him who he was, where he was and the reason why he was at the hospital, the lawsuit said. His injuries resulted in him losing his motor skills and his memory.
He was released in March 2023. Ballard had difficulty walking and experienced seizures, ticks, auditory and visual hallucinations and disoriented consciousness, the lawsuit said. He wasn’t able to adequately care for himself due to his condition, according to the lawsuit.
Ballard was picked up by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office again on burglary and auto theft charges on May 6, 2023, and was indicted. He pleaded guilty to those charges, and his offenses that led to his detainment during the attack were dismissed.
Sheriff’s office ‘created conditions’ for assault, suit says
During his time at the jail, Ballard noticed “other detainees acted freely and without consequences, especially during the overnight hours,” the lawsuit said. He also noticed that the locks in all of the cells in the block he was in were broken, which gave the inmates unrestricted access to other inmates’ cells.
According to the lawsuit, although the cell block could only hold 44 inmates, it housed roughly 100 inmates. With an overcrowded block, inmates had toilets that didn’t work. In cells that had working toilets, “it was the known gang members who were housed in those cells,” the lawsuit says.
Further, there was a policy in place that required deputies to perform headcounts periodically at 7 a.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., with security checks being performed every hour from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. The policy further required deputies to announce inmates to go to their cells to be counted and shake their cell doors to confirm the cell is locked, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argues that Davis, Wolfe, Grace and Woodford knew about the issues but they failed to address them and “created the conditions under which Mr. Ballard was assaulted and sustained significant injuries.”
A lawsuit represents one side of an argument. The defendants in the case haven’t filed a legal reply as of Monday.
This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 3:04 PM.
