Tommy Young
Tommy Young, 32, was short and often got into fights to defend himself, and his mother, Angela Stokes, described him as developmentally delayed, with the mind of a 12-year-old. He was due to come home in about three weeks. On Saturday, February 15, 2020, around 9 p.m., corrections officers found him unresponsive in his cell at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center, also known as 201 Poplar. The Shelby County Sheriff's Office said preliminary information suggested suicide, but the medical examiner had not determined the official cause. Stokes rejects that account, believes another person in the cell or elsewhere in the jail killed him, and questions why he was not better watched, while advocates criticized the $100 bond that kept him in jail.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed). The Shelby County Sheriff's Office said preliminary information suggested suicide, while his mother, Angela Stokes, rejects that account and believes another person killed him.
Reported by: Shelby County Sheriff's Office (Capt. Anthony Buckner) (the agency that held him); his mother, Angela Stokes (family or their lawyers).