TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Aug 30, 2023

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is investigating the death of 70-year-old Thomas Earl Williams at the Shelby County Jail, the Commercial Appeal reports. According to the paper, it was not clear why Williams was in jail and his case did not appear in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Portal or the Shelby County Inmate Lookup database. The Shelby County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, confirmed Williams' death, but said it could not comment further due to the investigation. Since 2016, there have been at least 52 deaths at the jail, which includes a sharp increase in deaths and mortality rates over the last three years, the paper reports.