MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man is dead inside the Shelby County Jail after being stabbed Thursday morning, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said.
The Sheriff’s Office said they are investigating a stabbing incident of a jail inmate by another at 201 Poplar around 9:30 a.m. Thursday. He was taken in critical condition to Regional One Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
On Thursday afternoon, the Sheriff's Office identified the victim as 25-year-old Deion Byrd.
According to court records, Byrd was accused of first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, aggravated assault and several other charges for an incident in January. He was also arrested back in June on charges including burglary of a business, auto theft, theft from a motor vehicle, unlawful possession and prohibited weapons after the Memphis Police Department conducted Operation Broken Bottles.
SCSO said their detectives were investigating this incident.
This marks the 47th death inside the Shelby County Jail since 2019. This statistic is not sitting well with people from Memphis criminal justice reform groups like Decarcerate Memphis and the Justice & Safety Alliance.
Joshua Adams with JSA calls Thursday's incident jarring, he feels not enough is being done to hold the Sheriff's Department accountable. Adams is asking county commissioners to get involved and regulate rather than request.
"I think that with the amount of people who have died in 201, I think there needs to be some policies put into place to make sure these deaths are being prevented."
Chase Madkins, a member of Decarcerate Memphis who spent time at 201 Poplar, is also calling for county and Memphis city leaders to take more action to reform the jail, saying what happened Thursday is an example of how bad things have gotten.
“I think it's a reflection of the lack of care being offered to them by the Shelby County Sheriff's Department of Corrections and or the criminal justice system in general. I think we're seeing an overflow, an overspill of trauma...just you know coming to a head,'" said Madkins.