Tenniel Ealey
Tenniel Ealey, 32, was experiencing a mental health crisis when Richmond County deputies responded to a call on Carswell Street in Augusta, Georgia, in June 2017. Deputies decided to take him to Augusta University Medical Center for a mental health evaluation, and while a deputy drove him there he was found not breathing in the back of the patrol car; he was pronounced dead at the hospital. A 2025 report says deputies had restrained him with handcuffs and leg irons and loaded him face down into the vehicle, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled the death accidental with excited delirium given as the cause, as relayed by an Augusta Law Department attorney.
Cause of death, as reported: Died in an accident (disputed). The Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled the death accidental, citing excited delirium, while another account says Richmond County deputies handcuffed him, shackled his legs and loaded him face down into a patrol car before he stopped breathing.
Reported by: Georgia Bureau of Investigation (outside investigators); news accounts of the death.