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Tyler Perry and his family are grieving after his nephew, Gavin Porter, apparently died of suicide.
According to TMZ, the 26-year-old was found dead in his jail cell Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. at the prison facility near St. Helena Parish in Louisiana where he was a state Department of Corrections inmate. His family was informed that Porter hung himself with a bedsheet. Porter was the son of Perry’s sister.
Sources told the outlet that officials relayed to the family that a fight broke out between Porter and other inmates, resulting in Porter being placed in solitary confinement. Later in the evening, guards checked in on Porter and did not find any reason to be concerned.
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Union Parish Sheriff Dusty Gates told The News-Star that there was nothing suspicious about Porter’s death on Saturday. However, the fight he was involved in and his death is under investigation. Porter’s body was transferred to Little Rock, Ark., for an autopsy.
Neither Perry or his family have commented on Porter’s passing which followed years of turmoil in the young man’s life. He was imprisoned after pleading guilty in April 2017 to a charge of manslaughter in relation to the Oct. 17, 2016 shooting death of his father, Gary Wayne Porter, who was 54 at the time of his death. He had originally been charged with second-degree murder according to the sheriff.
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Condolences to Porter’s loved ones.