Shonna Powell Death: Woman Commits Suicide In Richmond County Detention Center

Shonna Powell Death: Woman Commits Suicide In Richmond County Detention Center

A woman from Augusta who was being held at the Richmond County Detention Center on suspicion of keeping a sex slave in a dog cage was discovered dead in what appears to be a suicide.

Shonna Powell, who was 32 years old, died on December 22. The GBI is going to conduct an investigation.

Sheriff’s Sgt. William McCarty did not say who the dead woman was, but he did say that an investigation into a possible suicide by a female jail inmate was still going on. The facility’s death was confirmed by Mark Bowen, the county coroner.

According to Sgt. McCarty, deputies from Richmond County assigned to the Charles B. Webster Detention Center found a female prisoner who had hanged herself inside her cell at about 1:43 p.m. “CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) attempts by deputies and medical personnel to revive her were unsuccessful. The coroner’s office announced her death at 2:57 in the afternoon.

Sgt. McCarty says that contact has been made and that the close family members of the victim have been told what’s going on.

The sheriff’s office requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation visit the scene, and they will continue to be in charge of the investigation.

The sergeant said that the sheriff’s office’s Internal Affairs Division will also be looking into the incident internally.

Five people were arrested after a sex slave was freed from a house on Nellie Drive last month. They were suspected of kidnapping and holding the person against their will. One of the five people being held was Powell.

Anjelika Figueroa, DeMichael Dawson, Savannah Piazzi, and Dawson Weston were all arrested in connection with the kidnapping, assault, and captivity of the 20-year-old woman.

After suffering serious head injuries, the victim was sent to the hospital for treatment.