What did Kavian Thomas do? Fulton County inmate accused of stabbing prisoner in his jail cell

Fulton County inmate Kavian Thomas allegedly broke out of his cell to stab a fellow prisoner on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Guards were reportedly shocked when they found out that Thomas had dug a hole in a jail shower wall to climb through and stab a victim in a neighboring block. Fulton County Jail Commander Curtis Clark said that the victim, who had sustained non-life-threatening injuries had been moved to the jail's medical unit.

Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of a violent assault. Discretion is advised.

The Daily Loud shared Thomas' picture and the image of the hole he dug up in his cell on is Twitter handle along with news of the attack. Meanwhile, Fox reported that since the incident, Kavian Thomas has been moved to a cell and is facing several undisclosed criminal charges. Upon searching his living quarters, Fulton County guards found seven items of contraband, including at least two makeshift weapons.

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Timeline of the allegations against Kavian Thomas

Officials believe that Kavian Thomas had methodically planned the attack on the victim, who was identified by Fox News as Derondney Russell. At an unknown time prior to the attack, Thomas had reportedly dug a hole through a shower wall, knowing that it would ultimately lead him to Russell's cell.

The incident occurred at around 8:30 pm when Kavian Thomas climbed through the hole in the shower wall, which led him to the adjacent cell broke. Upon reaching there, he proceeded to stab Russell repeatedly and left him with multiple superficial stab wounds.

After the attack, officers quickly detained Thomas before transporting Russell to the facility's medical unit. They also conducted a search of Thomas' cell, suspecting that he may have been hiding other weapons. Investigators discovered that Thomas was in possession of two other makeshift blades, or 'shanks', which had been made using building material from the decaying jail.

Curtis Clark, the interim Fulton County Jail Commander, said that the stabbing was possible because of the old and crumbling infrastructure of the jail. Clark said that due to its age, the facility is unable to contain criminals such as Thomas.

He added that the infrastructure presents a "constant challenge" for them to eliminate inmates' access to things that might be potential weapons. Noting that the jail had outlived its "useful life," Clark said that this reality makes it even more challenging for them to do their jobs of providing a safe environment to both the staff and the inmates.

He added that the jail's staff and inmates are no strangers to such incidents and said that in the arena where they are currently operating, these incidents happen quite often.

Clark said that in order to prevent such crimes, the facility needs more members of staff. He added that renovations will also be crucial in order to maintain a safe environment.

As mentioned earlier, Kavian Thomas was moved to a different cell after the incident and faces several undisclosed criminal charges.