DAWSONVILLE, Ga. – Some 20-30 family and friends gathered at the roundabout Monday carrying signs and voicing their anger toward Sheriff Jeff Johnson following the death of Jonathan Sanford, 18, who died in the Dawson County Detention Center June 2, less than 24 hours after he was arrested for DUI and possession of marijuana.

Carrying signs that read “Justice for Jonathan?” “Was there a medical check?” “I want answers for my big brother” and “He was only 18. He could have lived.”

Sanford’s older sister, Cheyenne Sanford said, “We’re protesting my brother’s wrongful death. We do not want this to happen to any other family. I hold Sheriff Johnson responsible and every other officer who encountered him that night and did not do anything. This was the first time he had been arrested. It should have been a learning experience for him. Not a death sentence.”

She was particularly angry that Johnson had not personally contacted her family in the nearly two weeks since his arrest.

Sanford’s father Jerry Sanford told Fetch Your News he believes they placed his son in a holding cell and did not check on him even though Dawson County Sheriff’s Office Policy and Procedures requires inmates believed to be under the influence of drugs be “kept under close observation.”

Cheyenne Sanford said her brother’s death has devastated her family. “He leaves behind nephews and neices, little siblings that look up to him. He was their big brother and their hero.”

This is the second time in 14 months that an inmate died in the detention center. On April 10, 2019, 57-year-old Joseph Michael Bishop was found dead in his cell.

The incident is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab and cause of death has not been confirmed.

Fetch Your News tried to reach Sheriff Johnson for his comment but he did not return our call.