This week, a jury convicted one Shelby County deputy jailer and acquitted another in connection with the 2022 death of Gershun Freeman inside the Shelby County Jail.
And a Memphis police officer accused of strangling his wife may be barred from being a police officer in Tennessee ever again.
Here's what else was on the docket for the week of Aug. 17, 2026.
Jury convicts one, acquits another, in Gershun Freeman case
There was a split verdict in the Freeman trial, where two Shelby County Jail deputies were being tried for Freeman's death.
The jury, after hours of deliberation, found Stevon Jones not guilty on all counts and Courtney Parham guilty of lesser charges. The two had been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault acting in concert resulting in death.
County Jail deputy found guilty of Gershun Freeman homicide
Parham was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment on Aug. 19 after nine days of testimony. The jury deliberated for about six hours.
Seven other jailers were indicted in connection with Freeman's death, but they were each only charged with aggravated assault resulting in the death of another. They are set to be tried at a later date.
The jailers, in previously released surveillance footage, could be seen punching, kicking, pepper spraying and kneeling on Freeman's back.
Freeman was 33 at the time of his death.
Trial began on Aug. 3 with jury selection.
The case was investigated by the Shelby County District Attorney's Office's Justice Review Unit, and when charges were filed against the nine deputy jailers, the case was given to Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk after Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy recused his office from the case.
MPD requests former officer be decertified
The Memphis Police Department is seeking to have one of its former officers decertified by the state of Tennessee's Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (P.O.S.T.) after he was served with a protection order on behalf of his ex-wife.
If decertified, Jose Flores will not be allowed to be a law enforcement officer in Tennessee in the future.
According to the decertification request, Flores was served with an order of protection from his ex-wife, father-in-law and young son, who live in Texas. The protection order was served on June 14, 2025, according to the request.
"The ex-wife described many years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of Officer J. Flores," the request read. "She advised she was strangled, thrown to the ground, causing bruising to her neck and arm. He also damaged her cell phone."
Flores, according to the request, denied the physical abuse allegations but said he damaged her cell phone. According to the decertification, there was a witness to at least one of the abuse incidents, and the protection order applies nationwide for her lifetime.
Flores, according to his P.O.S.T. file, completed the academy in December 2009. He was P.O.S.T. certified in January 2010.
According to the decertification request, he was no longer employed by MPD as of March 17 this year.
Flores is among many officers MPD has requested be decertified. In 2023, multiple former Memphis police officers were decertified by P.O.S.T. in the wake of Tyré Nichols' beating and later death.
More recently, P.O.S.T. has held informal hearings on July 16 for former officer Devere Hawkins and on Aug. 21 for former officers Adrian Blakes, Brianna Looney and Chad Looney. Other departments within Shelby County, such as the Collierville Police Department, have also requested former officers be decertified.
It was not immediately clear what each ex-officer's alleged offense was, but Blakes was identified as one of seven now-former MPD officers to be fired in the wake of Nichols' death.
Top Commercial Appeal courts, public safety stories readers have viewed
- From Aug. 17: Court date reset for two cops in Tyré Nichols case amid legal quagmire
- From Aug. 14: Memphis child dies after being left in a van on 90-plus degree day
- From Aug. 18: Flock cameras are in Memphis. See where, if your plate has been searched
- From Aug. 19: One Shelby County Jail deputy found guilty of Gershun Freeman homicide
Latest in Memphis' biggest cases
Despite movement in the Nichols civil lawsuit, the state criminal case has remained stalled as the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ponders whether a new federal criminal trial is warranted.
On Aug. 17 this week, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., two former Memphis police officers who took plea deals in the federal case, appeared in state court.
"We're really just on pause," Blake Ballin, Mills' attorney, said during the report date. "We're waiting to find out if he has to testify again. There's really one thing left for us to focus on for Mr. Mills, which is sentencing. It's just a matter of when that comes around."
Despite taking federal plea deals, sentencing for Martin and Mills has stalled. Mills' plea deal also extended to his state case, and Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy said at the time the state plea would mirror the federal one in terms of penalties.
It is unclear what Martin's plea agreement and sentencing could look like.
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Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by phone or email: (901)208-3922 and Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, and followed on X @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Jury convicts Shelby County jailer of homicide, Tyré Nichols case in limbo
