According to a public information release from the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, a detainee at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center (Cobb ADC), Jose Razo, died at 1:56 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. 

According to booking records Razo was a Mableton resident and was born in 1987. He had been incarcerated since January for a total of 333 days when the record was updated.

The public information release described the details as follows:

His cellmate noticed he was unresponsive and immediately pressed the emergency button located in the cell. Detention staff and medical personnel swiftly responded and began administering life-saving care. 

An ambulance transported Mr. Razo to the hospital while sheriff’s deputies contacted his family and escorted them to the hospital. 

According to medical personnel, it appears Mr. Razo suffered from an aneurysm. The Cobb County Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death. 

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked and has agreed to investigate the incident. As is standard practice, the County Sheriff’s Office is also conducting an internal investigation. 

The last inmate death at the facility took place on November 13, and in that case the GBI declined to conduct an investigation because the agency was told by the hospital the death appeared to be from natural causes.

GBI and independent investigations

During an interview with Natalie Ammons, the Deputy Director of the GBI’s Office of Public Affairs conducted by the Courier a few years ago, she explained to us how the system for independent investigations works.

Investigations are conducted at the request of local agencies.

The agencies have no formal contract with the GBI for the services.

The investigations are carried out by Special Agents in a regional office within the area where the police agency is located. Cobb County, and much of the rest of metro Atlanta, is in the GBI’s Region 10, based in Conyers.

In Region 10, officer involved shootings and corruption investigations are the primary investigations Special Agents do, while in more rural areas with fewer police resources the agents handle a wider range of criminal investigations.