text: Two Georgia corrections officers have resigned after a photo emerged on Facebook last week depicting a badly beaten inmate with a leash around his neck flanked by his suspected tormentors. The teenage victim, Cortez Berry, was serving time at the Burruss Correctional Training Center in Forsyth, Georgia, for his role in a 2011 carjacking and robbery. The disturbing image was uploaded to Facebook Friday using a cellphone that had been sneaked into the jail. It shows the 18-year-old Berry  hunched down with a swollen eye in front of two shirtless young men, one of whom is holding the leash. Scroll down for video . In the disturbing photo which was uploaded to Facebook on Friday, Cortez Berry can be seen hunched down with a swollen eye in front of two shirtless young men, one who is holding the leash . Demetria Harris is calling for immediate action after a photo showing her badly beaten son with a leash around his neck taken at a Georgia correctional facility appeared on Facebook . 'I was like oh my God! What happened? How'd it happen? It's a terrifying picture to see,' Berry's mother, Demetria Harris, told WRDW last week. In a statement Monday, Georgia corrections officials said Berry has been removed from Burruss Correctional Training Center and placed in protective custody at Macon State Prison. The teenager initially was transferred to the notoriously violent Smith State Prison, sparking an outrage among his relatives. Two Burruss inmates involved in the photo incident were also removed from Burruss. The Georgia Department of Corrections has not released the names of the two jail guards who stepped down from their posts in the aftermath of the Facebook scandal citing an ongoing investigation. Friend Connie Kennedy told The Augusta Chronicle the Berry family want the state to release Cortez because they fear his fellow inmates will target him once he's out of protective custody. Cortez Berry was visited by his aunt on Saturday and he told her that he had been jumped by ten people who beat him and 'choked him to sleep.' 'Pretty much they left him there for dead,' said Shavondria Wright. The incident happened at 3:15 p.m. but he was left unchecked by the guards until 9:45 p.m. that night, she said. 'No one deserves this,' said Harris. 'They're not being protected. I don't care what they're there for, they still need to be protected.' The attack also appears to be gang related. The caption of the photo posted on Facebook reads: 'When you disrespect the Nation, it brings nothing but pain and suffering.' That is understood to be a reference to the gang, G.D. Nation, short for 'gangsta disciples.' Video courtesy of CBS46.com . Berry told visiters on Saturday that he had been jumped by ten people who beat him and 'choked him to sleep' The Department of Corrections is carrying out an investigation into the incident and has the area of the center where the photo was taken under lockdown. Inmates are not supposed to have access to cellphones. Berry is serving an 8 1/2-year sentence for aggravated battery, robbery and theft of a motorvehicle. He was transfered to the medium security detention center last year after violating his probation. His family say they want an assurance from the department that he will be able to pay his debt to society, without being killed. 'We could've lost him. He could've been dead. Especially when they hung the belt around his neck. He could've just been gone,' said Wright. Berry's aunt Shavondria Wright said the family are thankful that he wasn't killed in the incident but they want him to be able to pay his debt to society in safety .
target: Disturbing photo shows Cortez Berry  hunched down with a swollen eye in front of two shirtless young men, one of whom is holding a leash .
  Berry told family members he was jumped by ten other inmates and guards didn't check on him until six hours after the incident .
  Department of Corrections is investigating and believe the incident was gang-related .
  Mom Demetria Harris said she wants an assurance from the department that he will be able to pay his debt to society, without being killed .
  Berry has since been transferred to a different prison, where he is now in protective custody .