MEMPHIS, Tenn — Attorneys Ben Crump, Brice Timmons, and Jake Brown held a news conference Monday with the family of Gershun Freeman following the indictment of nine employees of the Shelby County Jail in Freeman’s death in 2022.
State prosecutors released the grand jury indictment Sept. 21, 2023, against nine Shelby County corrections deputies charged in Freeman’s death.
Stevon Jones, Courtney Parham, Ebonee Davis, Chelsey Duckett, Jeffrey Gibson, Anthony Howell, Lareko Elliot, Damian Cooper, and an unnamed ninth person were indicted on varying charges. All nine are due in court on Oct. 27 for a bond hearing.
Crump, Timmons, and Brown released this statement following news of the indictments: “The news of these nine indictments in the death of Gershun Freeman comes after a long fight for justice in his name and reflects the fight for justice for so many who die in custody. No person deserves to die in prison at the hands of those who are responsible for them and their care, no matter what they are incarcerated for. Our justice system cannot continue to be overridden by those who take on the role as jury, judge, and executioner.”
"Thank God the grand jury saw the same video we saw and said 'That is not right,'" said Crump at Monday's news conference. "The video tells us what we need to know."
Crump said this is the first step "in this long journey to justice, but it's a big step... Justice should work for this unarmed, naked Black man like it does for any other citizen in America."
"There could be no better demonstration of the systemic problems in the Shelby County Jail, the systemic issues of violence and a lack of health care for inmates, than 52 deaths, 52 deaths since 2019... It is nearly three times as dangerous to be at the Shelby County Jail than it is to be at Riker's Island" said Timmons.
"He was an amazing son, he was a great father, he was an amazing husband and we've been robbed of all of that. Why? We still don't know why," said wife Nicole Freeman. "Our family is hurt. No one should be really having to go through what our family is going through right now but unfortunately it's just the circumstances at the Shelby County jail."
"All you nine officers that did that to my baby, I want y'all to get everything you've got coming. Because it didn't take nine of y'all to do that to my baby and I hope y'all get everything you've got coming to you," said father George Burks.
The attorneys also said they would welcome the Department of Justice to open a pattern and practice investigation into the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. A similar investigation is underway now currently into the Memphis Police department following the death of Tyre Nichols.
Freeman, 33, died Oct. 5, 2022, after the altercation with jailers. A video of the altercation inside the jail showing Freeman being beaten and restrained by multiple correctional officers was released March 2, 2023. The last minutes of the video show Freeman, while naked and handcuffed, being restrained by multiple officers, lying face down on the jail floor. One officer is seen kneeling on his back for about four minutes until his body goes limp.
After the video release, a statement from Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner claimed Freeman died of a heart attack while being restrained and said parts of the video were being shown out of context.
Freeman’s manner of death is listed as a homicide in the autopsy report from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center, although the report said this “is not meant to definitively indicate criminal intent.”
During a news conference Sept. 20, 2023, Sheriff Bonner claimed the "early" release of "edited" video of the deadly altercation was a political move meant to derail his campaign for Memphis mayor.
RELATED: Shelby County Sheriff says he will fight the 9 indictments announced in Gershun Freeman's death
RELATED: Memphis mayoral candidates release statements following indictments in Gershun Freeman case
Shelby County D.A. Steve Mulroy said recused himself to “keep politics out of the case,” and Nashville D.A. Glenn Funk is handling the case. Mulroy said DA Funk used the same Shelby County Grand Jury process to indict the jailers as was used in the Tyre Nichols case, and that he (Mulroy) “played no role in the decision to indict.”
Brice Timmons and Jake Brown, attorneys for Freeman's family, commented immediately after Bonner's initial press conference, alleging the Sheriff was in violation of state law by commenting on the indictments before they were officially un-sealed. They blasted Bonner on a poor record in office as Sheriff, referencing 40 deaths in the Shelby County Jail during his tenure.
The family attorneys also claimed the deputies named in the indictments are still employed at the Shelby County Jail and that there are more officers responsible for Freeman's death but have not been indicted yet.
In Monday's news conference, Crump said "This isn't political. This is about getting justice... about holding people accountable so this doesn't keep happening to unarmed Black men in Memphis, Tennessee."
"Nothing is political about this expect that Sheriff Bonner has failed to maintain a safe and secure jail," said Timmons.
"(The Shelby County Sheriff's Office) has instead try to make this about Sheriff's Bonner's re-election," said Brown. "I would think a minimum for anyone who wants to be mayor of this city is that they don't expressly stand behind indicted murderers."
In April, Freeman's family filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Bonner, Chief Jailer Kirk Fields, and the government of Shelby County for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C & 1983 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.