Atlanta media mogul Tyler Perry announced he has hired a doctor to perform a second autopsy on his nephew, Gavin Porter, who was found dead in his jail cell Tuesday night.
“Three days ago, I got the horrible news that he allegedly committed suicide in prison. I say allegedly because, unfortunately, our criminal justice system and prisons have been notorious for cover ups and/or getting it wrong.
» Tyler Perry's nephew, 26, reportedly dies in Louisiana prison cell
“With that in mind I have hired Dr. Michael Baden to do a second autopsy, and we are expecting the results soon,” Perry wrote in an Instagram post.
Porter was found dead in a cell at Union Parish Detention Center at Farmerville in Louisiana. The 26-year-old reportedly hanged himself.
He had been placed in the cell Saturday night after being in a fight with several inmates, Union Parish Sheriff Dusty Gates told the News-Star. The sheriff said no foul play is suspected.
“I want to be clear that we are not a family of conspiracy theorists,” Perry wrote in his post, “and we want to believe that there was no foul play, just as the sheriff has stated publicly.”
Porter was arrested in October 2016 in the shooting death of his father, Gary Wayne Porter, after the two allegedly got into a fight, according to WAFB. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Porter is the son of Perry’s sister Melva Porter.
Perry wrote he had hoped Gavin Porter would serve his time and then “come work for me. Where he would join all the other former inmates that work for me and turn his life around, just as they have. But that day will never come.”
Perry said he and his family will have no further comment on the situation at this time.
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