Alexis Sluder
Alexis Sluder was a 16-year-old girl from Ellijay, Georgia, whom her mother described as full of life and curiosity, with plans to become a teacher, an interest in the military, and a love of beauty pageants. In August 2022 she became unresponsive hours after she arrived at the Dalton youth detention center, where she was held, and she was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the state juvenile justice agency have attributed her death to an adverse reaction to methamphetamine she took before admission, while her family's attorneys say staff delayed or denied her medical care for hours and that she had told staff about mental health diagnoses and past suicide attempts. A grand jury indicted five former Department of Juvenile Justice employees, including the center's director, on cruelty to children charges, but in March 2026 a judge dismissed those charges, ruling that investigators had used compelled statements. Her family is pursuing a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose (disputed; neglect alleged). The coroner and state juvenile justice commissioner attribute her death to an adverse reaction to a substance she took before admission, while the GBI and her family's attorneys cite methamphetamine toxicity, and her family's lawsuit says staff denied her medical care and did not call 911 for hours.
Reported by: Georgia Bureau of Investigation (outside investigators); Whitfield County grand jury (court); Whitfield County Coroner (medical examiner or coroner); Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Tyrone Oliver (the agency that held her); family's attorneys and federal lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Her family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit over her death, and the case is still pending with no amount reported.
News reports (10)
- 5 Dalton Youth Detention Center employees indicted following teen’s in-custody death
- After teen's in-custody death in Dalton, Whitfield County grand jury indicts 5 juvenile justice workers
- 5 DJJ employees arrested following teen’s death while in custody, GBI says - WSB-TV
- Juvenile detention director from Rome indicted after in-custody death at the Dalton Youth Detention Center - The Rome News-Tribune
- 5 former Dept. of Juvenile Justice employees indicted for in-custody death of 16-year-old in 2022 in Dalton
- Five Georgia detention centre workers indicted after 16-year-old’s death in custody
- 'They watched her die:' Federal lawsuit filed for teen who died at Dalton Detention Center
- Dalton Daily Citizen: Family of girl who died at youth detention center files lawsuit
- Judge dismisses charges against ex-Dalton youth detention workers in teen's 2022 death
- 'Gutted:' Family of Dalton teen reacts after charges dismissed in detention center death