MEMPHIS, Tenn — The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating after a woman died after being found unresponsive in jail, according to court records.
The SCSO said Kimberly Clark was found unresponsive in her cell by corrections workers at Shelby County Jail East for Women just after 1:15 a.m. Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. They said she was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital by Memphis Fire, and she was pronounced dead at 2:25 a.m.
SCSO investigators said preliminary information “suggests no signs of foul play, however, the official cause of death has yet to be determined by the medical examiner.”
In May, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who is running for Memphis mayor, reported 14 inmate deaths in 2022 in the county jail system he oversees, the highest in any year since he took office. Bonner said then that seven of those 2022 inmate deaths were disease related.