Tyrin Colbert
Tyrin Colbert was 17 years old. On February 17, 2016, deputies found him unresponsive in his cell at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison during a routine check, with a blanket around his neck, and he was taken to a hospital, where he was removed from life support and died the next morning. The Sheriff's Office says a cellmate, also 17, strangled him with the blanket during an argument over it and has been charged in the death, and the coroner's office lists the cause as blunt force injuries to the head and neck. A 2018 report says he cried out for help before he died, and a warden had acknowledged a year before his death that the overcrowded jail's layout made it hard to monitor people. His father, Hosey Colbert, has said the family is trying to plan his funeral and stay strong.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (neglect alleged). Detectives say his cellmate strangled him with a blanket during an argument, and a 2018 report co-written by Andrea Armstrong says he was choked to death by a cellmate while crying out for help; the report also says the jail's overcrowded layout made monitoring difficult, and a warden acknowledged this a year earlier.
Reported by: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office detectives (the agency that held him); East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office (medical examiner or coroner); 2018 report co-written by Andrea Armstrong (advocates).
News reports (5)
- EBRSO: Inmate accused of strangling his cell mate to death with blanket
- Coroner releases cause of death for inmate killed in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison
- Latest: Fight over blanket sparks inmate-on-inmate killing at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison
- Most Recent Deaths At East Baton Rouge Jail Could Have Been Avoided
- A Fight to Expose the Hidden Human Costs of Incarceration