Amid crowding, more Shelby County Jail inmates being placed on suicide watch
Jail deaths can depend on a variety of factors, said Lenard Vare, a former prison warden and jail administrator in Nevada and California. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
Two recent deaths at the Shelby County Jail have again put a spotlight on conditions at the aging facility.
The deaths of 22-year-old Sherman Weakley and 41-year-old Justin Segerson just a day apart last week were at least the 55th and 56th deaths at the jail since 2019.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said Weakley’s death appeared to be a suicide, the second in less than a year, and attributed Segerson’s death to a fentanyl overdose. At least three inmates have died from overdoses in the same time frame.
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Aarron Fleming
Once an intern, he never left, joining the staff full-time in 2022 as an education reporter. He moved to public safety in 2023, where he covered some of the city’s biggest court cases, including the criminal trials for those charged in the deaths of Tyré Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also chronicled the Shelby County Jail and the deaths that have occurred at the facility.
He now provides suburban coverage, focusing on DeSoto County and the surrounding municipalities.
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