Memphis, the largest city in Tennessee’s Shelby County, is known for several things. Elvis Presley’s former residence, Graceland, is a popular tourist attraction, as are bars and nightlife attractions on Beale Street, the epicenter of world-renowned jazz and blues music. The city also has a well-earned reputation for tasty barbecue. However, for residents of Shelby County, the local jail looms large in the news with reports of violence, abysmal conditions and deaths.

In early 2025, four detainees died within a week. Justin Segerson, 44, was found unresponsive in his cell on January 30, 2025, and rushed to a hospital, where he died the next day. Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) Chief Deputy Anthony Buckner said the cause of death was likely a fentanyl overdose, though a definitive determination awaited a coroner’s examination. It was unknown how Segerson got the drug after he was arrested and booked into the lockup in December 2024. He faced weapons violation and drug possession charges, as well as one count of carrying an unlawful open container of alcohol.

The day after his death, on February 1, 2025, fellow detainee Sherman Weakley, 22, was found dead of an apparent suicide while inexplicably roaming the jail outside of his cell. Buckner said that 600 door locks were flagged for repair at the lockup. But he stressed that a note Weakley left behind indicated that he suffered from “mental health issues,” which Buckner said “had nothing to do with the Shelby County Jail, but more about perhaps the life he lived growing up in Memphis.”

On February 6, 2025, detainee Darian Noland, 33, had a “mental status change,” according to Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr., and was taken to a hospital, where he died hours later. He had been held while awaiting trial on vandalism and misdemeanor assault charges since September 2024. The following day, detainee Darin Crawford, 57, was also found unresponsive and taken to a hospital where he died. He had been held just 13 days on one count of aggravated assault and four counts of assault on a first responder, Bonner said. No cause of death was immediately available, though Bonner indicated, “We’ve terminated employees, and if we find that any of these deaths are drug-related, then we will terminate more employees and hopefully get with the DA and prosecute them as well.” As for conditions at the aging lockup, Bonner added wearily: “I’ve talked about it many, many times.”

Built in 1981, the 10-story Shelby County Criminal Justice Center at 201 Poplar Avenue in downtown Memphis houses the men’s jail as well as the Sheriff’s Office, the city’s police department, the Attorney General’s office and various courthouses. The aging facility has proven problematic for decades. When Mark Luttrell served as Sheriff from 2002 to 2010, according to an op-ed he penned on March 5, 2024, “Addressing conditions in the jail operation proved to be the greatest challenge”—especially “significant staff turnover and a high degree of inmate violence.” With regard to recent reports of deaths and poor conditions, Luttrell said “[I]t appears that many of the problems we hear and read about today regarding the jail are a reminder of what we had in 2002. The changes implemented to supervise inmates, appropriately recruit and train personnel and ensure that constitutional standards are followed have been neglected and by outward appearances, have failed.”

Though cause of death remains to be determined in the four most recent deaths, Shelby County jail officials certainly failed others—including Marcus Donald, Deion Byrd, Gershun Freeman and Ramon McGhee, all pretrial detainees who were among those who died at the 201 Poplar facility within the past two years.

Strangled After He Should Have Been Released

Marcus Donald, 38, was held at the downtown jail until he was fatally strangled overnight between November 17 and 18, 2022. His cellmate, Stephen Robinson, was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to a homicide charge in November 2023. That same month Donald’s family filed suit against Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. and other jail officials—seeking $75 million in damages.

According to their complaint, Donald had pleaded guilty in his criminal case on November 17, 2022, receiving a sentence to time served sentence. He shouldn’t have been in jail when he died, yet Donald remained in confinement. That night he was put in a cell with Robinson, who was awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges.

Donald repeatedly asked staff why he was still in custody. Saying he feared for his life, he pleaded to be moved to another cell. But a jailer reportedly told him, “That ain’t got shit to do with me.” Another guard notified her supervisor, who told her to ignore Donald’s requests. Other detainees also warned staff members that Donald was in danger from Robinson, who told guards himself that he would kill Donald if they let him remain there.

During a security check that night Donald was found unresponsive on the cell floor; he died at Regional One Hospital five days later. His family’s lawsuit alleges that despite a policy requiring security checks every half hour, no checks were conducted for almost an hour and 20 minutes before Donald was found. Furthermore, the guard station in that area of the jail was vacant at the time. Video from the housing unit reportedly showed other prisoners “waving t-shirts and blankets trying to summon help,” as PLN reported. [See: PLN, June 2024, p.48.]

The fact that Donald had not been promptly released after being sentenced to time served was especially problematic, since Shelby County had previously settled a class-action suit over that exact issue. That case resulted in a $4.9 million payout (including $2.4 million in attorney fees) for an estimated 3,500 former detainee class members, who had remained in jail after they should have been freed between November 2016 and March 2021. As part of the settlement terms, the SCSO was required to “maintain a processing office responsible, in conjunction with other offices, for the … release of prisoners.” Grievances alleging that detainees were being held beyond their release dates were also to be expedited; the settlement was finalized and approved by the federal court for the Western District of Tennessee on December 9, 2021. See: Turnage v. Oldham, USDC (W.D. Tenn.), Case No. 2:16-cv-02907.

Yet almost three years after these requirements went into effect, the SCSO failed to ensure that Donald was released in a timely manner, resulting in his death. His family is represented by local counsel from Apperson Crump PLC in Memphis and Washington, D.C. civil rights attorney Ben Crump. See: Donald v. Bonner, USDC (W.D. Tenn.), Case No. 2:23-cv-02738.

Murdered in a Holding Cell

Deion Byrd, 25, was indicted on charges ranging from theft to first-degree murder and booked into the Shelby County Jail in June 2023. Awaiting an arraignment hearing, he was put in a holding cell with another prisoner, 21-year-old Donnie Clay, on October 26, 2023. An argument erupted between them; Byrd accused Clay of having broken into his house. In response, Clay produced a shank and stabbed Byrd in the neck—a wound that proved fatal.

“How could we not be able to protect another inmate from being killed?” asked Shelby County Judge Paula Skahan. “That’s our job, to make sure everyone is safe in our system, and we couldn’t do it.”

The answer, according to Byrd’s family, was insufficient staffing and neglect by jail staff—claims they raised in a lawsuit filed in January 2024. They are represented by Memphis attorneys Craig A. Edgington and Brice M. Timmons with Watson Burns PLLC. See: Byrd v. Bonner, USDC (W.D. Tenn.), Case No. 2:24-cv-02043.

Following Byrd’s murder, Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. launched an investigation into the jail’s standards and policies. “Until we get our staffing levels up, we’re trying to make do with what we have,” he said.

Fatally Beaten by Jail Guards

Gershun Freeman, 33, wasn’t killed by other prisoners; rather, he died after an altercation with guards on October 2, 2022. Surveillance cameras recorded what happened when jailers opened his cell door while distributing meals. Freeman, who reportedly had mental health issues, “lunged” out at them, they later said. Almost a dozen guards responded, kicking and beating him, as they also sprayed him with chemical irritants.

According to a report by WMC “Action News 5,” the video showed “Freeman wandering naked, bruised and bloody across multiple floors of the jail while officers ma[de] attempts to take him back into custody.” After he was put on the floor and handcuffed, they kept a knee on his back for five minutes before he became unresponsive and died. He had been at the jail just four days. An autopsy determined the cause of death was cardiac arrest which was classified as a homicide. Counterintuitively, Bonner insisted, “No action by any Shelby County Sheriff employee caused Mr. Freeman’s death.”

The district attorney’s office disagreed, and almost a year later, in September 2023, nine jail deputies were indicted. As PLN reported, Stevon Jones and Courtney Parham were charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault, while Damien Cooper, Ebonee Davis, Lareko Elliott, Anthony Howell, Chelsey Duckett, Jeffrey Gibson and Charles Gatwood were charged with aggravated assault. All were released on bond. [See: PLN, Nov. 2023, p.44.]

Bonner, who was running for Memphis mayor at the time, claimed the charges against the deputies were politically motivated. “I believe if I were not running for another office, these indictments would not have happened,” he declared. “I feel this is despicable.”

Freeman’s family, however, found his death at the hands of jail staff to be despicable and called for an investigation by federal officials. “We want justice at the end of the day,” said Nicole Freeman, Gershun’s wife. “We are thinking of the families that would have to deal with these issues in the future.” The family is represented by attorneys Crump and Timmons, along with Apperson Crump PLC attorney Jake Brown, who have filed a wrongful death suit. See: Freeman v. Bonner, USDC (W.D. Tenn.), Case No. 2:23-cv-02193.

Bonner later lost his mayoral election bid.

Fatally Neglected

The death of detainee Ramon McGhee, 42, who had serious mental health problems, was blamed on extreme neglect by jail staff. He was found unresponsive at the 201 Poplar facility on January 10, 2024, and died two days later.

McGhee’s family had an independent autopsy performed, which found his death was caused by starvation, dehydration and malnutrition. His stomach was “virtually empty.” He was covered with lice, bedbugs, and sores; the autopsy report noted that insects were found in his hair, nose, mouth, chest, pubic area, and arms and legs. McGhee’s body was filthy, soiled with feces, and he had “uncut, claw-like toe nails and finger nails,” the report noted. His death was classified as a homicide due to severe neglect.

Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. admitted that mistakes had been made in connection with McGhee’ s death—without actually holding anyone accountable. “Unfortunately, directions concerning his cell cleaning and personal hygiene were disregarded and crucial information was withheld,” he said in a statement on February 8, 2024. “Those within the Sheriff’s Office who neglected their responsibilities regarding this tragic incident are not reflective of our values,” the Sheriff declared, adding that what happened to McGhee was “completely unacceptable” and “intolerable.”

But was anyone fired or criminally charged? Apparently not. The assistant jail chief and the chief inspector in the jail’s security operations division resigned, but there were no indictments. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is reviewing the death.

Dangerous Conditions of Confinement

In addition to numerous detainee deaths at the Shelby County Jail—at least 52 between 2016 and 2023—the facility has been cited for poor maintenance and unsanitary conditions, as well as high levels of prisoner-on-prisoner violence.

A May 2024 news story by WATN reported that approximately 100 locks on cell doors were not working properly—some had been vandalized, while others “mechanically failed due to time and age,” an SCSO spokesman stated. The non-functional locks posed obvious security risks, with detainees able to exit their cells to assault others.

“I got to talk to many of those inmates … about the fact that some of their doors wouldn’t even lock,” said Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell (D-Dist. 6), who toured the jail. “So they don’t even sleep nights because they don’t know if somebody is going to come into their cell.”

The SCSO said that emergency funds had been approved to fix the faulty locks. But detainees and their families have expressed concerns over other conditions at the jail, too. “It’s like they are setting them up to get hurt or killed,” said one prisoner’s mother, who was not identified. “The doors, the cells, they pretty much can come in and out as they want to. I was also told the guards don’t even come on the floors. They too afraid.”

Former detainee Cordero K. Ragland filed suit in the federal court in 2022 after he was attacked with a concrete block by fellow prisoner Drew Johnson. The suit accused jail staff of failing to protect Ragland, who had been jailed for a probation violation when he was celled with Johnson, who was facing murder charges. The court denied the county’s motion for summary judgment on July 17, 2024, finding there were disputed issues of facts as to “whether Shelby County’s failure to remedy its unsafe jail conditions constituted a custom of deliberate indifference to inmate-on-inmate violence.” See: Ragland v. Shelby Cty., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127223 (W.D. Tenn.).

Shelby County asked to file an interlocutory appeal to that ruling at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, but the request was denied on July 26, 2024. See: Ragland v. Shelby Cty., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 132706 (W.D. Tenn.). Meanwhile, Ragland’s criminal charges were dismissed on September 27, 2024, when a judge determined his brain injury from the assault left the detainee mentally incompetent to stand trial. The following month, on October 23, 2024, a jury in the federal court returned a verdict in his civil case, finding the County was not guilty of deliberate indifference to the detainee’s serious medical needs nor of maintaining a custom or policy that was the “moving force” behind his assault. Shortly after that, on November 2, 2024, Ragland was at last released from the jail; the SCSO said that holds from Arkansas and Texas were released when charges there were apparently dropped.

Earlier, on May 3, 2024, prisoners in one housing unit tied the main door shut using bedsheets and then started several fires. Guards forced entry into the unit and dispersed chemical agents to regain control; several detainees were taken to a hospital with non-critical injuries. Four prisoners—Dontavious Ford, Daniel Robinson, Maynor Turcios and Romello Mason—were implicated in that incident, which was investigated to determine if criminal charges would be filed.

Bonner called the 44-year-old jail a safety concern due to poor maintenance and outdated technology and security features. Recently, the jail’s boiler system needed to be replaced. But the company that constructed the facility is no longer in business, and thus unavailable to assist with repairs. With respect to sanitation issues, Ben Crump, who is representing Ramon McGhee’s family, released several photos of cells displaying what he called “deplorable” conditions. One picture, taken in 2021 or 2022, showed a cell wall covered with handprints and crosses drawn with feces. “Those handprints are handprints of feces,” Crump stated. “There is no way any jailer can say they’re not aware of these horrific conditions, these inhumane conditions.”

Another photo from 2023 showed a prisoner sitting on a bunk in a filthy cell, leaning over with his head on his knees. The toilet appeared to be clogged and the floor was awash in dirty brown water. Graffiti covered the walls. SCSO spokesman Joseph Fox said such conditions are not typical but “do happen in the mental health units.” He added that guards should have moved the detainee shown in the photo to another cell and had the toilet repaired. In an apparent understatement, he acknowledged that unsanitary conditions, including feces-covered cells, can be “unpleasant, if not unhealthy, for those nearby.”

A First-Hand Account

PLN interviewed a former pretrial detainee who was held at the Shelby County Jail from October 2020 to March 2024. The prisoner, who asked to remain anonymous, was present when Gershun Freeman was assaulted by guards and died. He said that detainees with low-level charges were inappropriately housed with those awaiting trial for murder and other serious offenses. He also confirmed that locks on many cell doors did not work properly, so the doors could be rigged to stay open—permitting free movement of some detainees who might brutalize others. There were numerous lockdowns, with prisoners remaining in their cells for days. One guard, who was left alone with responsibility for two 40-man pods, often stayed in a “bubble” control room rather than risk injury or worse in the housing units.

With regard to conditions of confinement, this detainee said that the 201 Poplar facility was the “nastiest place on earth”—with broken pipes and “toilets that are fucked up, sinks that are fucked up, showers that are fucked up.” Concrete in the cells had deteriorated and detached from the structure; pieces of it were sometimes used as weapons. Cordero Ragland was one of those assaulted using a concrete block removed from a cell wall.

While the detainee acknowledged prisoner-on-prisoner violence, he said that excessive force by staff was more of a problem—particularly with members of the jail’s black-uniformed crisis response team. While the detainee was working as a “rockman” or janitor, a response team officer sprayed him with a chemical agent because he didn’t move fast enough, he stated.

Misconduct by Jail Staff

Detainees at the 201 Poplar facility face violence not only from other prisoners but also from staff members. Besides the fatal altercation involving Gershun Freeman, there were 31 violations from of jail policy reported among jail employees that resulted in disciplinary sanctions—including reprimands, suspensions and job termination—from June 2018 to September 2021.

One incident involved a jailer who pushed a prisoner down a flight of steps. Another guard was captured on video striking a compliant prisoner and spraying him with a chemical agent. Both employees received oral reprimands. One deputy was fired—Frederick McCloud, who assaulted a handcuffed prisoner and inflicted serious head injuries. He was charged with felony misconduct and aggravated assault on November 13, 2019.

In another incident, security video showed a guard using chemical spray on a detainee and then “pulling him to the ground by his hair and putting him in a headlock” until other jailers arrived to break up the assault, according to an article by Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which assisted in obtaining the video footage.

Two of the guards charged in Freeman’s death had been named as defendants in a previous lawsuit brought by a detainee who claimed he faced retaliation from jail staff after filing a grievance. The parties to that suit reported to the court that they reached a settlement, and PLN has requested documents to report details in an upcoming issue. See: Hester v. Shelby Cty., USDC (W.D. Tenn.), Case No. 2:21-cv-02030.

More recently, former Shelby County Jail prisoner Damien Florez-Ramirez filed suit inMay 2024 alleging that he was severely beaten by two guards on the jail’s crisis response team, whowere later indicted on multiple charges. According to the complaint, Florez-Ramirez was in amedical exam room in May 2023 after throwing a chair and hitting a guard. He was cuffedbehind his back and a nurse found he had “no visible injuries.”

Two guards, Reginald Wilkins and Odell Underwood, entered the room, and Wilkinsremoved his watch and gave it to a sergeant. A lieutenant cleared staff from the hallway andappeared to stand watch outside the exam room. Wilkins and Underwood then allegedly sprayedFlorez-Ramirez with Freeze +P—a chemical agent similar to pepper spray—before kicking him andrepeatedly punching him for around six minutes with “handcuffs used as brass knuckles,”which resulted in permanent facial injuries.

When a nurse returned, Florez-Ramirez pleaded for help and asked her to take photos, butshe refused and didn’t file an incident report. He was assaulted again by guards in a changingroom, then placed in segregation; there were no video cameras in the exam or changing rooms.Later taken to a hospital after passing out, he was treated “for a concussion, facial lacerations andblunt force trauma to the head.”

In November 2023, Wilkins and Underwood were charged with official oppression and officialmisconduct—both felonies—as well as misdemeanor assault. “Our own internal proceduresfound troubling misconduct by our own correction officers,” Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said when theindictments were announced. Their charges were still pending in March 2025.

Florez-Ramirez’s complaint listed 22 incidents at the Shelby County Jail between June2018 and January 2023 that involved staff members engaging in violence against prisoners. The complaint further alleged that guards “regularly subjected inmates to unsanctioned violence inflicted solely aspunishment, not for any legitimate penological objective.” Florez-Ramirez’s suit requests $1.35 million in damages. He is represented by Apperton Crump PLC attorneys SaraMcKinney and Jake Brown. See: Florez-Ramirez v. Jones, USDC (W.D. Tenn.), Case No. 2:24-cv-02335.

Staff misconduct arguably extends to the sheriff himself. Following Freeman’sdeath, Shelby County district attorney Steve Mulroy noted that in recent cases involving deathsat the jail, “Sheriff Bonner initially refused to provide [TBI]or this office with videos, stating that we could view the video at his office but could not have acopy.… As a result, I had to get the TBI to compel production of the videos.”

Budget Problems and New Jail Proposal

Deaths, violence, poor conditions and staff misconduct aren’t the only problems besetting the Shelby County Jail. In May 2024, County Commissioners proposed a new budget that included eliminating 441 SCSO job positions, amounting to a $30 million cut in funding. Most were vacant deputy positions to guard the jail. But the cut makes that reduced guard staff permanent.

“We were blindsided like many of the other elected officials that were blindsided by this,” said Bonner. “To cut 441 positions from the Sheriff’s Office—we can’t live within that.” Memphis Mayor Lee Harris (D) explained that law enforcement personnel would receive “their highest raise in Shelby County history” as part of the budget, and while hundreds of positions in the SCSO would be filled, “these positions have to be paid more”—implying that the higher wages for existing staff would be offset by eliminating vacant jobs which the county couldn’t afford to fill anyway.

Taking a page from prisoners’ families who filed lawsuits over deaths at the jail, Bonner threatened to sue if the proposed budget was approved. He argued that state law requires his consent before the budget for the SCSO can be reduced. “I know 441 positions cut from our budget is not going to work for us,” he said. Although the positions were vacant at the time, if filled they would reduce understaffing at the jail and improve security and the safety of both detainees and other employees.

The County Commission capitulated in July 2024, passing a budget that included a 6% raise for employees and preserved all the vacant positions in the SCSO. “I was very serious about suing,” Bonner said afterwards.

Beyond budgetary issues, Bonner has long called for construction of a new jail facility —which would resolve issues related to deplorable conditions, maintenance problems and non-functional locks on cell doors. The County Commission allocated $200,000 in April 2024 for a study to determine whether a replacement jail was needed. A new facility is estimated to cost up to $800 million.

“It is on many of the Commissioners’ hearts that we have to do something about [the jail], but we [have] got to identify the funding source that’s going to provide us almost $800 million,” said Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell. Meanwhile, the County plans to open a new mental health facility that would divert some detainees from the downtown jail. “Many of our mentally ill residents belong in treatment facilities, not this jail,” Bonner remarked.

Deja vu All Over Again

In the early 2000s, following an investigation and a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal district court appointed a special master to oversee and monitor the Shelby County Jail until high levels of violence and insufficient supervision by staff improved. It took five years to resolve that litigation.

But should incidents continue such as the deaths, violence and staff misconduct described above, it is entirely possible that the jail will once again be placed under federal oversight. As former Sheriff Mark Luttrell observed, “Failure to react is the repetition of history. It is important now that our community support all efforts to improve conditions at the jail and then hold those in authority accountable.” Otherwise, he added, “if the past is an indication, inquiries by the Justice Department may be forthcoming.”

While building a new jail would improve conditions of confinement, it is the culture within the SCSO that really needs change; absent that, the neglect and abuse that have resulted in so much preventable violence and death are almost certain to continue.  

Additional sources: Huffington Post, Reuters News, Memphis Commercial Appeal, WATN, WMC, WREG

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