COVINGTON, Ga. — A local woman says she plans to file a complaint with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office for alleged mistreatment of her granddaughter inside the jail after the teen and a guard were involved in a fight Tuesday.

However, a sheriff’s office spokesperson said an internal investigation is being done to determine if assault charges should be placed against the inmate. 

June Murphy said she was told her granddaughter, 18-year-old Tania Murphy, was roughed up by detention officers Tuesday night after being ordered into lockdown at the county jail on Alcovy Road.

Murphy and her son, Keith, who is the inmate’s father, said another inmate called them and told them Tania had been hurt and was bleeding after an altercation with guards Tuesday night.

Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Caitlin Jett said the incident occurred Tuesday between 10 and 10:30 p.m. when inmate Tania Murphy refused “lockdown” — a term meaning “restricted movement.”

“As one of our detention officers were attempting to get her back in her cell, she assaulted the detention officer,” Jett said. 

“Murphy and our detention officer both received minor scratches as a result of the incident. Following the incident, Murphy and our detention officer promptly received medical attention,” she said.

Jett said an internal investigation is being conducted.

“The Newton County Sheriff’s Office is currently making the decision whether or not to charge Murphy for the assault,” she said.

June Murphy said guards had used a taser on her granddaughter in the past.

She said she traveled to the jail after the incident and was told Tania received medical care after the altercation.

Records indicate Tania Murphy was arrested in September on an aggravated assault charge. She went before a judge Oct. 1 and a bond was set, but she was arrested again and held in the jail since Dec. 14 after a judge revoked the bond.