In a troubling turn in an already tragic case, Rodney McWeay, charged with starving his 4-year-old daughter Treasure to death, was recently stabbed during a failed robbery inside Fulton County jail. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, McWeay now faces more felony charges after trying to rob another inmate with a homemade weapon, highlighting the jail's ongoing issues with violence and poor conditions.
After obtaining warrants, it was revealed that McWeay attempted to forcefully take goods from another inmate's "store," which refers to personal commissary items. In the ensuing struggle, inmate Durricor Humphrey managed to quickly seize control of the shank and used it to stab McWeay, who had little to seemingly lose given the severity of his prior charges. As Joshua Schiffer, a Roswell criminal defense attorney, told FOX 5 Atlanta, the incident reflects the despair and hopelessness of inmates facing significant sentences, which "becomes a regular and common occurrence."
Separately, inquiries into the failure of multiple systems leading to the child's death are underway. The FOX 5 I-Team investigation brought to light that, despite several requests for welfare checks by the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), police failed to make contact with the family. Tom Rawlings, a former director of DFCS, described the situation as "one of the more troubling" he has reviewed, casting a spotlight on the gaping cracks within Georgia's protective services.
McWeay, who also allegedly abused his other children and family members, is accused of kidnapping the children from their mother in Maryland and returning them to deplorable living conditions previously flagged by DFCS. "Nobody really pushed the issue, and as a result, this child died," Rawlings said to the FOX 5 I-Team, underscoring a sequence of inaction and neglect that allegedly led to the tragedy. Indeed, the Atlanta Police Department has since initiated an internal investigation to reassess their response protocols in light of the case.
Simultaneously, as McWeay stands trial for the murder of his daughter, the family declines to comment on the case's unfolding events.
