MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Shelby County's jail population is becoming "much sicker" and older than in past years, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

Eight people have died in Shelby County jail custody this year. Two of those eight deaths were due to a heart condition and pneumonia, two were overdoses, two were suicide or probably suicide and two others are awaiting autopsy results, the sheriff's office said.

There were 10 deaths reported in jail last year, and a total of 65 between 2018 and 2024, the sheriff's office said.

The jail population is about 2,800 people in the main jail.

The sheriff's office says there are more elderly people in custody; some were jailed because of DNA evidence found in sex crimes from years earlier.

Some detainees are coming to the jail in wheelchairs or on oxygen. Others are waiting for open heart surgery, in the middle of cancer treatment, withdrawing from drugs and alcohol or having a mental health crisis.

Some detainees have not taken medications in years or stopped because they did not think they would be in jail long. Their medical status reflects the surrounding community.

Sheriff Floyd Bonner sent the statistics in a news release Friday, as he continues to push for a new jail to replace the aging men's facility at 201 Poplar and women's facility in Shelby Farms.

County leaders are evaluating a proposal to build a new jail facility in North Memphis.

"As the building crumbles and the residents use the walls, ceilings, and light fixtures to fashion

weapons, the Sheriff's Office has constant shakedowns and maintenance repairs," Bonner's office wrote. "They tore apart their units to create weapons and ingest dangerous substances from the light fixtures and floors, hoping to get high. ... The building was never meant to last this long."

The information also comes as Bonner's office sues the county mayor's office over the new county budget, which he says shortchanges the sheriff's office.