People Keep Dying At This Memphis Jail — And The Lawsuits Are Piling Up

Deion Byrd would have turned 26 years old on Jan. 31. His father, Marcus Byrd, told HuffPost that Deion usually spent his birthdays with his family, watching television and eating some of his mother’s cooking at their home in Memphis, Tennessee.

“He liked joking and things like that,” Marcus said. “He wanted to rap and made a few mixtapes. He had dreams of doing things he could enjoy.”

Last year, Deion Byrd was involved in a car crash that led to a man’s death. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy alleged that Byrd and another man were evading police in a getaway vehicle linked to organized robberies at local liquor stores. Byrd was in the passenger seat.

Byrd was indicted on charges of theft, burglary, vehicular homicide and first-degree murder and was sent to the Shelby County jail on June 24.