The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a 70-year-old inmate in the Shelby County Jail, which is more commonly referred to as 201 Poplar.

TBI identified the deceased inmate as Thomas Earl Williams, whose body was sent out for an autopsy.

Williams died Aug. 22, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reported.

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Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy requested the investigation, which TBI spokesperson Keli McAlister said is “active and ongoing.”

The Daily Memphian reported in June that there had been 40 deaths inside 201 Poplar since 2019. The Commercial Appeal recently expanded that data, finding 52 deaths had occurred since 2016 for those in SCSO custody.

In 2019, there were four deaths within the jail. There were nine, 10 and 14 deaths there in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. 

This is the fourth male suspect to have died inside 201 Poplar this year, according to data obtained by The Daily Memphian.

One person who died while in custody in October 2022 was Gershun Freeman.

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The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office initially declined to release a video taken of Freeman moments before his death; it was later released by Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk after Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy recused his office from the investigation.

The video showed Freeman, while apparently undergoing a mental-health crisis, being subdued and beaten by officers.

SCSO records said Freeman’s cause of death was “exacerbation of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease due to physical altercation and subdual, contributory cause of death probably psychotic disorder.”

Coroners ruled the death a homicide.

Freeman’s family is currently suing for wrongful death. A team of lawyers, including notable civil rights attorney Ben Crump, is representing the family.

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Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. is currently a candidate for Memphis mayor.

J.W. Gibson, a rival mayoral candidate, criticized Bonner Monday, Aug. 21, for “weak and ineffective leadership at the Shelby County Jail” and “a staggering display of ineffective leadership that puts our city at risk.”

Michelle McKissack and Van Turner, who are also both running for mayor, have been critical of Bonner’s handling of the jail, which is the primary responsibility of his office as sheriff.

Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, also a candidate in the October election, has also called on Bonner to answer questions about the deaths.

Bonner was sworn in as sheriff in September 2018.

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Bureau of Justice statistics from 2019 say the rate of death in local jails was 167 per 100,000 inmates. 

SCSO’s Public Information Officer John Morris said in June the Bureau of Justice information isn’t accurate because not all jails report those numbers, which skews the findings. He also said the U.S. Congress has been critical of underreporting from the U.S. Department of Justice.

“We do not accept your premise under these circumstances,” Morris said in June in response to questions raised by The Daily Memphian about the number of deaths at 201 Poplar.

“Many of the detainees who died here were also in the hospital or a medical unit when they died, but that question was not asked by you. One of the deaths involved a man who never set foot in the jail, having been transported to the hospital where he died,” Morris said in June. “Because he had been placed under arrest, that counted as an in-custody death.”

Bill Dries contributed to this story.