Biography
James Edward Garrett was a 25-year-old Black man arrested by Marshall County, Mississippi deputies on a 1975 armed-robbery charge who was found dead in his cell (hands and feet bound) on Jan. 21, 1978; officials ruled suicide, but the United League of Marshall County disputed it and demanded a federal probe. The Black Panther Vol. 18 no.7 (1978).
The March 4, 1978 account states that Garrett was taken into custody the day before he was found dead on January 21. The 1975 date identifies the alleged robbery, not the beginning of this jail stay. The United League and his family challenged the official suicide account. His death ended this detention; it was not a release to freedom.
The Black Panther, March 4, 1978, volume 18 no. 7, PDF page 9; The Black Panther, March 4, 1978, volume 18 no. 7, PDF page 19.
