Inmate dies at same jail where Lawler was fatally hurt
An inmate died this week at the Hardeman County Jail, the same facility where former WWE wrestler Brian Christopher Lawler was fatally injured in July.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now conducting inquiries into the death of Lawler and the recent death of 59-year-old inmate Gregory Kent Shearin, said TBI spokesman Josh DeVine.
According to a TBI news release, the jail’s staff found Shearin unresponsive in his cell’s bed at approximately 11 p.m. Wednesday.
“The staff performed CPR while awaiting medics, who transported Shearin to a local hospital, where doctors pronounced him deceased,” the statement says. “The investigation remains active and ongoing.”
Shearin had been arrested Aug. 17 on a charge of domestic aggravated assault, according to online records.
Lawler was reportedly found hanging in a cell and brought to the Regional Medical Center, where he died hours later on July 29.
The 46-year-old’s death was ruled a suicide, but his father, Jerry Lawler, the pro wrestling icon, says he doubts that account.
The elder Lawler said other inmates have contacted him about a fight his son reportedly had with another inmate the day of the injury.
Lawler, who had wrestled under the names Brian Christopher and “Grandmaster Sexay,” was being held after a July 7 arrest on charges of DUI, evading arrest and driving on a revoked license.
The Hardeman County Jail is at 505 S. Main St. in Bolivar, about 70 miles east of Memphis.
It’s run by the Hardeman County Sheriff’s Office, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The local jail is not to be confused with the Hardeman County Correctional Facility in Whiteville, a large state prison where fighting over the weekend sent inmates to the hospital.
Daniel Connolly and Jason Munz
Reach Daniel Connolly at daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com or 901529-5296 and on Twitter at @danielconnolly.