The defense attorney who represented both of the inmates recently found dead in their cells at the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility said she was not immediately notified after their deaths.
“I am not pointing fingers, but for whatever reason, we weren’t provided with much communication,” said T. Murry Whalen. “What we simply want the community to know is that it was not for lack of concern on our part. It was simply poor communication.”
Within a month, inmates Tyrone Grant and William Ashley were found dead inside their cells at the local county jail.
Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers said Grant, 44, died on April 25. He also said autopsy reports indicated that Grant died from natural causes. However, two correctional officers were fired in connection with his death.
Twenty-three days later, Shivers said William Ashley, 35, was found dead inside his cell on May 18 around 4:42 p.m. Shivers said his body was sent to the state crime lab, where an autopsy is pending.
Whalen said she was contacted by Grant’s other legal team about three days after his death last April. She said that his other attorney was informed about his death through a social worker in another state.
“(Yazoo County Sheriff) Jacob Sheriff apologized for me being overlooked,” Whalen added. “But I have never had anything like this with my clients.”
Whalen also said she was not informed about the death of Ashley until two days after he was found dead last month.
Whalen reached out to The Yazoo Herald last week, and during that correspondence she learned about Grant’s autopsy repors. She said she did not even know that his autopsy report had returned from the state crime lab. She also said she was unaware that two correctional officers were fired.
“I don’t know what the protocol is, but getting to the bottom of these deaths is the main thing,” she said. “Counsel has been appointed, and counsel should have been reached out to. There is no lack of concern, but we try to get information. Unfortunately, we have to run it down.”
Whalen said there have been plenty of disadvantages surrounding cases in the midst of the COVID pandemic. Routine visits with her clients at the county jail have decreased since COVID has eliminated the possibility of entering the facility.
Whalen said she is going to spend the next few days “trying to figure out what is going on.” But she said that her office should have been contacted immediately following the death of her two clients. And although their deaths were revealed to her in the days afterwards, communication concerning autopsy reports has been poor, if not non-existent.
Sheriff said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations has been asked to assist with an ongoing investigation into the deaths.
