Tyler Perry’s Nephew Has Hanged Himself To Death In Prison
Feb. 26 2020, Updated 5:26 p.m. ET
Tyler Perry’s nephew reportedly has hanged himself to death in a Louisiana prison, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Gavin Porter, who was serving time at the Union Parish Detention Center in Farmerville, was reportedly discovered dead in his cell on Tuesday evening, Feb. 25.
Sheriff Dusty Gates of the Union Parish Sheriff's department told RadarOnline.com authorities are currently investigating the incident and Porter's body has been sent for autopsy.
"There was no one else in the cell at the time he was found dead," Gates noted, adding investigators "do not suspect a homicide at this time.”
The 26-year-old filmmaker, who is the son of Perry’s sister, reportedly used a sheet to hang himself while in solitary confinement, where guards placed him after he got in a fight.
In 2016, Porter was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years behind bars after he pleaded no contest to the shooting death of his biological father during an argument.
Porter’s famous uncle, Perry, 50, has revealed he once tried to commit suicide as a teen after he became depressed.
“If any of it had worked, my attempts to kill myself … I wouldn’t have gotten to the other side of all the horror,” said the Madea star, who endured sexual abuse when he was young.
“I believe that to everything there’s an opposite. So for all of that pain and hell, I was going through as a child, there had to be beauty,” Perry said. “I tell anyone who is in pain, ‘Just keep going. One little step is a step.’”
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).