Inmate Fatality in Shelby County Jail. Gershun Freeman

Shelby County Sheriff's Department
201 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38103
901-222-5500

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The District Attorney’s Office in Nashville released video showing the moments leading up to the death of an inmate at the Shelby County Jail in Memphis last October.
The medical examiner ruled the 33-year-old’s death a homicide. A report by the medical examiner said Freeman was restrained by jailers and subsequently went into cardiac arrest.
The video shows Freeman naked and lunging out of the cell when the cell door opens. One jailer appears to respond with pepper spray. The second jailer drops the meal and starts punching Freeman.
The deputy in the closest to the camera in the frame appears to already have the pepper spray, the chemical agent in his hand before the door is opened.
On the left side, you can see four other jailers joining in.
Freeman started crawling away while other jailers flooded the narrow hallway and continued hitting him. It appears they hit Freeman with a metal object.
Freeman appears to be under control and the jailers, who appeared to be impacted by the pepper spray, started to retreat.
The fact that those officers felt comfortable doing that in front of other officers clearly shows there is a problem in the culture of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began looking into his death in October at the request of Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy.