Tyler Perry is opening up about his suspicions surrounding the alleged suicide of his nephew, Gavin Porter.
Porter was serving 20 years in prison for fatally shooting his father in front of his mother, who is Perry’s sister. He was found dead in his cell on Tuesday (Feb. 25) night, from what officials are ruling an apparent suicide.
Perry doesn’t believe that his nephew killed himself because he got into a fight with another inmate last weekend and was placed in solitary confinement. He has hired Dr. Michael Baden, a famed pathologist, to perform a second autopsy.
Perry issued a statement on his Instagram account today (Feb. 27), writing, “A few years ago my nephew committed a heinous crime — he shot his biological father and killed him just feet away from my sister over a senseless argument. The murder shook our entire family to its core.”
“Despite his horrible act, before he went to prison I went to see him in the local jail. I assured him that we all still loved him, but it was important to all of us, including his mother, that he was punished for this horrific crime that he had committed. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison,” Perry wrote.
“Call me naive, but it was my hope that after serving his time, really reflecting, showing much remorse, and asking God for forgiveness that he would have been able to come work for me,” the Why Did I Get Married creator continued. “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.”
He continued, “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. With that in mind I have hired Dr. Michael Baden to do a second autopsy, and we are expecting the results soon.”
“I want to be clear that we are not a family of conspiracy theorists, and we want to believe that there was no foul play, just as the sheriff has stated publicly,” he added.
Perry concluded the post with, “On behalf of my and my sister we thank you for all the thoughts and prayers, and we all have no further comments at this time.”
Our prayers and thoughts are with Tyler Perry and his family.