Man dies in police custody, autopsy result rules homicide

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office’s Justice Review Unit is looking into the death of an inmate at 201 Poplar in October of 2022.

RELATED: Family seeks answers after inmate dies at 201 Poplar

In a statement from DA Mulroy’s office:

In October, the District Attorney’s Office was made aware of the death of Mr. Gershun Freeman, who died while in the Shelby County jail. DA Mulroy immediately called in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate Mr. Freeman’s death. Additionally, our Justice Review Unit (JRU) has begun reviewing the details of the investigation.

The JRU—who received the medical examiner’s report yesterday evening—will continue their review of the investigation thus far conducted by TBI. The JRU will make a recommendation to DA Mulroy once the investigation is complete.

Because this is an ongoing investigation and has not been completed by TBI or the JRU, this is the only information we can provide at this time.

RELATED: Man kidnapped ex-girlfriend, threatened to kill her at U-Haul site, police say

Freeman’s wife, Nicole Freeman, told FOX13 she was looking for answers regarding her husband’s death.

“Everything we know up to this point we had to find on our own,” Freeman’s wife Nicole Freeman said. “There’s no information at all.”

Nicole Freeman said she received a call from a detective at 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 6, informing her that something had happened to her husband, but she hasn’t received any details from authorities regarding what exactly took place.

Five hours after that call, she learned that her husband had died.

“I asked the detective if he was okay. All they told me was they were working on it. No information or confirmation on his whereabouts,” Nicole Freeman said.

Not much information regarding Freeman’s death has been released at this time.

Freeman was accused of threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend on Sept. 29 and threatened to put her in an empty U-Haul truck in the 3200 block of Austin Peay Highway

Freeman allegedly dragged the victim out of the car and began kicking her in the ribs, an affidavit said.

He then left on foot while the victim drove herself to a nearby police station, MPD said.

The woman suffered two broken teeth, swelling and bruising on her face, a bite on her nose, and bruised ribs.

She identified Freeman as the man who assaulted her and gave a written statement.

He was charged with Aggravated Kidnapping and Aggravated Assault, records show.

The autopsy says the 33-year-old collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest following that altercation.

“How long do we really have to live in a nightmare? It’s never-ending.”

While shedding tears, Ellis shared that similar, recent headlines of police-involved murders have been very hurtful and traumatizing for their family.

“With the Nichols’ stuff, that was devastating for my family. We watch this every day on the news play out. We re-live that scene through somebody else’s case.”

The autopsy report goes on to state Freeman had multiple bruises on his body and scalp injuries, including hemorrhaging.

FOX13 learned the investigation is also being examined by the District Attorney’s Justice Review Unit, who’s expected to make a recommendation to DA Steve Mulroy, once that investigation is complete.

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