Georgia corrections officials are investigating the death of 32-year-old Sheqweetta Vaughan, who was discovered unresponsive in a single-occupancy segregation cell at Lee Arrendale State Prison late morning on July 9, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). 

The outlet reports that when Habersham County’s deputy coroner arrived shortly after noon, he documented a cell “in the 90s” with little ventilation and a body already exhibiting decomposition, including “a strong odor of decay.” No signs of trauma or contraband were noted, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) later said an autopsy could not determine the cause or manner of death.

Vaughan’s death, six months after she gave birth while in state custody, has intensified scrutiny of Georgia’s prison system amid ongoing concerns about understaffing, safety, and medical oversight. The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) said the case is being handled by its Office of Professional Standards “as undetermined and believed to be natural” pending final autopsy results. The agency did not address whether required welfare checks were performed.

Vaughan was housed in a segregation unit where officers are required to observe each prisoner at least every 30 minutes and document the checks. But a pathologist consulted about the circumstances said the degree of decomposition suggests those rounds weren’t occurring as required—or that critical warning signs were missed. 

“There was no checking every 30 minutes,” said Dr. Paul Uribe, a former chief of pathology at Fort Benning to AJC. “That degree of decomposition doesn’t come within 30 minutes, within an hour, or within two hours.”

According to AJC, a prisoner in a nearby cell said she heard Vaughan call for medical attention around 6 a.m. on July 8 and heard nothing further. The outlet said that, per incident records, a Lee Arrendale officer phoned 911 at 10:45 a.m. on July 9 to report an inmate who was not breathing. Asked whether CPR had begun, the officer responded, “Yeah, we got medical on the scene.” Emergency responders declared Vaughan deceased upon arrival.

Deputy Coroner Kenneth Franklin’s report detailed blistering on Vaughan’s right thigh, chest, and arms; swelling and skin slippage in the eyelids; and green “marbling” on her arms caused by bacteria spread, all changes subsequent to decomposition. He wrote that prison staff told him a video showed a check at 10:08 a.m. with the body reportedly discovered at 10:40 a.m. In an interview, Franklin cautioned that extreme heat can hasten decomposition, complicating time-of-death estimates. “Normally, when you see what I saw, it means she’d been dead two, two and a half days,” he said, according to AJC. “But when you have no ventilation and that kind of temperature, you can have a situation where the person hadn’t been deceased very long (before decomposition set in).”

Like most Georgia prisons, Lee Arrendale is not air-conditioned. The facility has an air-conditioned postpartum room for women who've recently given birth, but stays there are typically limited to about six weeks.