Current:Home > Scams9 deputies charged in death of man beaten in Memphis jail, including 2 for second-degree murder -FinTechWorld
9 deputies charged in death of man beaten in Memphis jail, including 2 for second-degree murder
View
Date:2025-04-16 22:54:58
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two Memphis jail deputies have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a Black man who was having a psychotic episode and died in custody last fall after jailers punched, kicked and kneeled on his back during a confrontation, according to court documents released Thursday.
The indictments show that Stevon Jones and Courtney Parham have also been charged with aggravated assault while acting in concert with others in the death of 33-year-old Gershun Freeman. Jones faces an additional count of assault.
Meanwhile, seven other deputies have been charged with aggravated assault resulting in the death of another. Those officers include: Jeffrey Gibson, Anthony Howell, Damian Cooper, Ebonee Davis, Lareko Donwel Elliot and Chelsey Duckett. One officer’s name was redacted.
The grand jury made the indictments Tuesday and warrants were issued Wednesday.
All of the deputies have been placed on administrative leave. Online records do not show if the eight deputies named in the indictment have lawyers.
A hearing for the deputies will take place Oct. 27.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner first disclosed the existence of the indictments Wednesday evening, but refused to give any more information at the time. Instead, he accused the investigation of being political and vowed to help raise money for the deputies’ legal fees.
Bonner is running for mayor of Memphis. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy threw his support behind a different candidate, Van Turner, before Freeman’s death and before Bonner announced his candidacy.
Mulroy has recused himself from Freeman’s case and Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk has since been tapped to oversee the investigation.
“I did everything I could to take politics out of it and I hope the public doesn’t buy the narrative that there was anything untoward about that,” Mulroy told reporters Thursday.
Earlier this year, Funk released video of Freeman at the Shelby County Jail.
The video shows Freeman was beaten by at least 10 corrections officers Oct. 5 after he ran naked from his cell.
According to the video, officers wrestle Freeman to the ground and begin to punch, kick and pepper-spray him. They are joined by additional officers. The deputies move with Freeman out of the hallway. From another camera’s view, Freeman is seen wrapping himself around an officer’s legs in a different hallway.
The video shifts to a bank of escalators and Freeman, still naked, runs up one of them. In another hallway, a struggle continues with officers attempting to restrain him before getting him face-down on the ground. They can be seen stepping and kneeling on his back before he becomes still. One officer remained on Freeman’s back for several minutes before he was lifted.
He appears limp when officers do lift him up, with his head falling forward between his knees and his hands cuffed behind his back. He remains in that position until medical employees arrive, and the video ends.
Freeman had “psychosis and cardiovascular disease and died of a heart attack while being restrained,” Bonner said in a March statement, citing a medical examiner’s report.
Freeman’s manner of death is listed as a homicide in the autopsy report from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center, although the report says that this “is not meant to definitively indicate criminal intent.”
Brice Timmons, a lawyer for Freeman’s family, said Wednesday that Bonner is to blame for Freeman’s death.
___
Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tennessee.
veryGood! (78361)
Related
- South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
- Judge dismisses charges against Vermont deputy in upstate New York brawl and shootout
- Russell Brand faces sexual assault claim dating to 2003, London police say
- Bank of America increases minimum wage for fifth consecutive year
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Seattle officer should be put on leave for callous remarks about woman’s death, watchdog group says
- LAPD assistant chief on leave after allegedly stalking another officer using an Apple Airtag
- South Korean lawmakers vote to lift opposition leader’s immunity against arrest
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Syrian President Bashar Assad arrives in China on first visit since the beginning of war in Syria
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- 'DWTS' Mirrorball Trophy is renamed for judge Len Goodman. What else is new on dancing show?
- Tom Brady Reacts to Rumor He'll Replace Aaron Rodgers on New York Jets NFL Team
- Julie Chen Moonves Accuses 2 Former The Talk Cohosts of Pushing Her Off Show
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- There have been attempts to censor more than 1,900 library book titles so far in 2023
- Another endangered Florida panther struck and killed by vehicle — the 62nd such fatality since 2021
- David Beckham Netflix docuseries gets release date and trailer amid Inter Miami CF hype
Recommendation
As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
Medicaid expansion back on glidepath to enactment in North Carolina as final budget heads to votes
USC football suspends reporter from access to the team; group calls move an 'overreaction'
Booze, brawls and broken sharks: The shocking true story behind the making of 'Jaws'
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
Biden Finds Funds to Launch an ‘American Climate Corps’ With Existing Authority Congress Has Given to Agencies
Judge dismisses charges against Vermont deputy in upstate New York brawl and shootout
Trump’s New York hush-money criminal trial could overlap with state’s presidential primary