The investigation, fallout of Stephen Fossett’s death at Macon jail: A timeline
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Stephen Fossett died after a jail struggle involving deputies 1 year ago.
- DA declines criminal charges, but lawsuit may be filed.
- Multiple incidents prompt changes in how local sheriff's office handles cases.
The death of Stephen Fossett at the Bibb County Jail on May 25, 2024, sparked protests, internal investigations, policy changes and may lead to legal battles in Macon.
The circumstances of Fossett’s death just over one year ago were the subject of controversy, with the attorneys for the family, Mawuli Davis and Nathan Fitzpatrick, in the center, pushing for accountability from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Most recently, Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita R. Howard ruled after a review of the body camera footage, the surveillance video and interviews of the deputies involved, that criminal charges weren’t warranted.
However, it opened the opportunity for Davis and Fitzpatrick to prepare for a potential civil lawsuit, since Howard’s office only reviewed the evidence to see if there was criminal liability.
Here’s whta to know about Fossett’s case.
A timeline of Stephen Fossett’s death in Macon
- May 18, 2024: Fossett was arrested outside of a Macon establishment and was held at the Bibb County Jail as a pretrial detainee charged with criminal trespassing and public indecency, according to an incident report The Telegraph obtained from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Records Department via open records law.
- May 25, 2024: Fossett is pronounced dead after a struggle with deputies.
- August 28, 2024: Attorneys Davis and Fitzpatrick, as well as Fossett’s family, provide details of what occurred the day Fossett died to the public for the first time. It is first revealed that his death came after a medical emergency turned into a struggle with officers, which led to them using tasers on him. Despite requests for information on why their son died, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office allegedly had not elaborated on the specifics to Fossett’s family. At the time, deputies said they were conducting an internal investigation.
- October 11, 2024: The Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled Fossett’s death a homicide.
- October 22, 2024: Fitzpatrick, Davis and Fossett’s family organized a vigil outside of the Bibb County Jail to advocate for more transparency relating to what caused Fossett’s death. The family still had not seen the body camera and surveillance footage of the day of his death.
- December 2024: Howard invited the family, as well as Davis and Fitzpatrick, to her office to view the footage of Fossett’s death. Although Paula Platt, Fossett’s mother, was unable to watch the video, Fossett’s brother, Keshawn Fossett, watched the evidence on her behalf.
- January 28, 2025: Davis and Fitzpatrick shared a video description with the media. Both attorneys were at the Douglass Theatre in Macon with Fossett’s family, where they celebrated what would have been his 43rd birthday.
- February 4, 2025: Sheriff David Davis of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office shared additional details of Fossett’s death with The Telegraph, revealing that the struggle first began when Fossett ingested K2, more commonly known as synthetic marijuana, which caused him to be erratic once deputies first confronted him.
- April 9, 2025: Howard concluded her review into the officers who tased Fossett and ruled that no criminal charges were legally warranted. She explained that the evidence showed that “the officers were responding to a rapidly evolving situation with an inmate who had consumed an illegal substance, became combative, and attempted to flee while in custody.”
- April 10, 2025: Davis, Fitzpatrick and Fossett’s family spoke on Howard’s ruling, saying the investigation was faulty and that Howard had been given “trash” evidence from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.
- April 18, 2025: The sheriff’s office released a roughly 10-minute-long video that showed officers tasing Fossett in an attempt to put handcuffs on him.
- May 22, 2025: The NAACP announced in a separate incident that the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office will now report their in-custody deaths and serious injuries to the GBI, and allow the state agency to investigate, rather than conducting an internal investigation.
What’s next?
The last time Davis and Fitzpatrick addressed the media, which was after District Attorney Howard concluded her investigation into the officers, they indicated that there was reason to file a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office.
“The Americans with Disability Act should have applied even in custody,” Davis said. “He did not give away his rights as a citizen.”
The ADA is a federal civil rights law “that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities,” according to the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. It applies to anyone with a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities, someone who has a history of their impairment or is perceived by others as having their impairment, the DOJ says.
The ADA further protects those with disabilities from being discriminated against in employment, state and local government services, public transit, public businesses and telecommunications.
However, as of the time of the publication, no lawsuit has been filed in federal court.
