ByMariah Congedo|September 13, 2020 at 5:57 PM EDT - Updated September 13 at 11:54 PM
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Four officers have been fired and one charged after an inmate was found dead in the Chatham County Detention Center.
Now, family and friends say they’re left with many unanswered questions.
Lee Michael Creely was found unresponsive in his jail cell last Sunday. Since then, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office has fired four officers and charged one of them, Terence Jackson, with falsifying records. According to a family friend, John Recchio, they are looking for concrete answers on how Creely died.
“This needs to be looked at and there needs to be answers and accountability. Not just in firing people, but making sure whatever did occur doesn’t occur again so other families aren’t going through what their family’s going through and we’re going through as friends," he said.
One of the four officers, Terence Jackson is being charged with falsifying records. According to Sheriff Wilcher, security videos show Jackson never made his rounds to check on the inmates like he said he did.
“I’ve arrested one other person for falsifying records and I’m not going to tolerate it. We’ve got a job to do here," said Sheriff Wilcher.
Sheriff Wilcher says officers are supposed to go into the jail units every 30 minutes.
“This needs to be looked at and there needs to be answers and accountability. Not just in firing people but making sure whatever did occur doesn’t occur again.”
Creely was the father of two boys. Recchio says he was an all-around good person.
“You think about your life growing up and who you grew up with as a friend, like brothers, Lee and I still speak on a regular basis.”
The GBI is conducting a criminal investigation and there is no cause of death yet.
“Whether it was a true accident that he did pass in his sleep or it was something senseless that happened inside the jail that could’ve been avoided, whether it was through leadership or accountability, I want to make sure these things do not go unaddressed,” said Recchio.
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