Inmate deaths at Shelby County Jail outnumber other Tennessee counties
While Shelby County has the highest number of deaths, when accounting for average population, Knox County has had proportionally more inmate deaths than Shelby County, according to the data provided. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
While announcing the death of 22-year-old Sherman Weakley in February, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Anthony Buckner called it “probably one of the saddest cases I’ve seen.”
Weakley, arrested in December on aggravated burglary charges, died Feb. 1 after being found unresponsive outside his jail cell. His autopsy attributed his death to suicide.
“Mr. Weakley’s mental health issues had nothing to do with the Shelby County Jail but more about perhaps the life he lived growing up in Memphis,” Buckner said during a Feb. 3 press conference.
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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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