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Died in jail or a lockup

Gershun Freeman

33 years old · died October 5, 2022 · Shelby County Jail, Shelby County, Tennessee

Gershun Freeman, 33, a Memphis man, died on October 5, 2022, while held at the Shelby County Jail at 201 Poplar. His family, including his wife Nicole Freeman, his mother Kimberly Freeman and his father George Burks, describe him as a loving son, husband and father, and have said they learned of his death only after going to the morgue. Video released after his death shows officers beating him, kicking him, pepper-spraying him and holding him face down, with one officer kneeling on his back, and the county medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, citing heart disease worsened by the altercation and restraint. The sheriff's office has said he died of a heart attack while being restrained, that the video is out of context, and that no staff action caused the death. Nine deputies were indicted in 2023, and in August 2026 a jury acquitted one former jailer and convicted another of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed; neglect alleged). The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from heart disease worsened by a physical altercation and restraint by jailers, while Sheriff Floyd Bonner says he died of a heart attack during restraint and that video is out of context; the family and their lawyers say officers beat him and held him face down, and a former cellmate says detention officers beat him while he was pepper sprayed and that nearly an hour passed before medical aid arrived.

Reported by: Shelby County medical examiner's autopsy report (medical examiner or coroner); Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner (the agency that held him); the family and their attorneys, including Ben Crump (family or their lawyers); Jacob Wilder, a former cellmate (witnesses); Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (outside investigators); Davidson County prosecutors (outside investigators).

Lawsuit: His family filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Shelby County, Sheriff Floyd Bonner and Chief Jailer Kirk Fields, with no settlement or award amount reported; the case is listed as Freeman v. Bonner in the Western District of Tennessee, filed in 2023 and still open. Court record: Freeman v. Bonner (W.D. Tenn., 2023).

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