9 deputies charged in beating death of Gershun Freeman caught on jail surveillance video

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nine Memphis jail deputies have been indicted in the death of a Black man who was having a psychotic episode and died in custody last fall after jailers punched, kicked and kneeled on his back during a confrontation, a sheriff said Wednesday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nine Memphis jail deputies have been indicted in the death of a Black man who was having a psychotic episode and died in custody last fall after jailers punched, kicked and kneeled on his back during a confrontation, a sheriff said Wednesday.

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who oversees the jail where 33-year-old Gershun Freeman was beaten, disclosed the existence of the indictments during a news conference Wednesday but declined to offer more details, including the names of the county jail deputies and the charges they face.

The Associated Press was unable to obtain the indictments late Wednesday. But lawyers for Freeman’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit against Bonner said the indictments were sealed. They declined to name the jailers and the charges, only saying that they are serious.

Video shows Tennessee man beaten by jail staff prior to deathMarch 17, 202303:07The video shows Freeman was beaten by at least 10 corrections officers Oct. 5 after he ran naked from his cell. His attorneys say he was also struck with handcuffs, rings of jail keys and pepper spray cannisters.

Freeman had “psychosis and cardiovascular disease and died of a heart attack while being restrained,” Bonner said in a March statement, citing a medical examiner’s report.