Photo: TMZ (mugshot)
FARMERVILLE – An inmate in the Union Parish Detention Center, who was related to filmmaker Tyler Perry, was found dead Tuesday.
According to KNOE News, 26-year-old Gavin Porter was found dead in his cell around 8:30 p.m., authorities say it appeared that Porter took his own life.
Union Parish Sheriff Dusty Gates said Porter was found in a cell where he’d been placed Saturday night, following a fight that involved several inmates.
Though the Sheriff said foul play is not suspected, Saturday night’s fight and Porter’s death remain under investigation.
Porter’s body was sent to Little Rock, Ark., for an autopsy.
Porter had been a state Department of Corrections inmate who was being held in Union Parish.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in April of 2017 in 21st Judicial District Court in St. Helena Parish.
He’d originally been charged with second-degree murder in 2016.
Porter was the nephew of Hollywood filmmaker Tyler Perry. On Thursday, Perry took to social media to express sorrow over his nephew’s death and to say that he has not ruled out the fact that Porter’s death may not have a suicide.
Perry indicated that he suspected a cover up, saying, “Unfortunately, our criminal justice system and prisons have been notorious for cover ups and/or getting it wrong. With that in mind I have hired Dr. Michael Baden to do a second autopsy, and we are expecting the results soon.”
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