Kylan Leeper was a 25-year-old Tennessee inmate who died of a fentanyl overdose on October 6, 2023, inside the CoreCivic-run Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville. His estate has since sued CoreCivic and senior prison staff in federal court, and his father’s advocacy has produced two new Tennessee laws aimed at private prison accountability.
Who Kylan Leeper Was and How He Died
Kylan Taylor Leeper was serving an eight-year sentence for arson when he died. He entered Trousdale Turner on May 5, 2023.1Findlaw. Estate of Leeper v. CoreCivic Inc. Before that, his only prior record in Davidson County consisted of two 2017 misdemeanor convictions for petty theft and drug possession, plus a third charge that was dismissed.2Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk. Criminal History Search – Kylan T. Leeper
On October 6, 2023, staff found him unresponsive and pulseless in his cell during an emergency count triggered by a wave of inmate overdoses at the facility. An autopsy confirmed the cause of death as fentanyl overdose.1Findlaw. Estate of Leeper v. CoreCivic Inc. His father, Tim Leeper, has said he believes Kylan “accidentally took a laced pill to calm his anxiety and fear,” and that an additional pill was found in his clothing when he died.3NewsChannel 5 Nashville. Father Hopes New Spotlight on Trousdale Prison Will Help Bring Reform After Son’s Death
According to the complaint later filed by his estate, trouble started almost immediately. Leeper was stabbed by another inmate within days of arriving, and he told family members he had to guard his food and drinks to keep other inmates from slipping fentanyl or other opioids into them.1Findlaw. Estate of Leeper v. CoreCivic Inc.
Inside Trousdale Turner on the Day He Died
The overdose that killed Leeper was not isolated. The estate’s complaint cites 418 calls for help related to overdoses at Trousdale Turner over roughly a three-year period, with some days producing as many as twenty non-fatal overdoses.4FOX 17 Nashville. Lawsuit Filed Against CoreCivic, Others After Inmate’s Death in Trousdale Prison5Nashville Banner. Trousdale Turner Correctional Center Death Families6CBS News. Private Prison Operator CoreCivic Lawsuit Inmate Killed
Staffing was thin. CoreCivic reported a 146% employee turnover rate at Trousdale in 2023, compared with 37% at state-run prisons; the Justice Department pegged the guard turnover rate for that year even higher, at 188%.7Tennessee Lookout. Tennessee Senate Puts Restriction on Private Prisons With High Death Rate8U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Announces Civil Rights Investigation Into Conditions at Tennessee’s Trousdale Turner Correctional Center State audits in 2017, 2020, and 2023 had repeatedly flagged understaffing, with auditors in one case documenting a single correctional officer responsible for supervising more than 300 people.9U.S. Department of Justice. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks Announcing Civil Rights Investigation
Several correctional officers at Trousdale Turner were arrested in 2023 for smuggling contraband into the prison, including one case involving a large quantity of uncut fentanyl and methamphetamine.1Findlaw. Estate of Leeper v. CoreCivic Inc. On August 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into the facility under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, examining whether the state adequately protects inmates from physical violence and sexual abuse.8U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Announces Civil Rights Investigation Into Conditions at Tennessee’s Trousdale Turner Correctional Center
The Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against CoreCivic
On October 4, 2024, attorney Mark Walwyn filed a federal wrongful death suit on behalf of Leeper’s estate in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The case, Estate of Leeper v. CoreCivic, Inc. (No. 3:24-cv-01197), names CoreCivic, former Warden Vincent Vantell, Assistant Warden Jermaris Porter, and other defendants.4FOX 17 Nashville. Lawsuit Filed Against CoreCivic, Others After Inmate’s Death in Trousdale Prison It brings claims under 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983 for Eighth Amendment violations, along with state-law negligence and wrongful death claims.10GovInfo. Leeper et al v. CoreCivic, Inc. et al
What the Complaint Alleges
The complaint describes Trousdale Turner as an “open-air drug market” and alleges that an organized smuggling operation functioned inside the facility with senior-staff involvement. It claims Assistant Warden Jermaris Porter used his position to undermine drug-detection efforts, ensuring drug-sniffing dogs did not search the cells of known drug users and distributors, and manipulating staff schedules to place co-conspirators at entry points where drugs could pass undetected.1Findlaw. Estate of Leeper v. CoreCivic Inc. The complaint alleges Warden Vantell knew about Porter’s operation and continued to employ and promote him. It also describes other smuggling methods, including drones dropping opioids into the prison yard and drugs tossed over security walls inside footballs and basketballs.11The Tennessean. Tennessee Prisons Trousdale County Benefits CoreCivic
Porter has not been criminally charged for his alleged role in the smuggling operation; the allegation appears only in the civil case. CoreCivic has said it maintains a “zero-tolerance policy for the introduction of contraband” and that contraband is a “nationwide challenge for all correctional facilities.”4FOX 17 Nashville. Lawsuit Filed Against CoreCivic, Others After Inmate’s Death in Trousdale Prison
The August 2025 Dismissal Ruling
On August 27, 2025, the court issued a memorandum opinion on the defendants’ motions to dismiss. The core of the case was allowed to move forward. The surviving claims include:
- Failure to protect, with the court finding the estate had sufficiently alleged both a serious risk of harm from unrestricted drug access and deliberate indifference by CoreCivic, Vantell, and Porter.
- Organizational liability under Monell, on the theory that CoreCivic had a custom of tolerating drug smuggling and pervasive overdoses as a cost of maintaining order.
- Failure to supervise, against Vantell and Porter individually, with the court reasoning that failure to investigate a smuggling operation Porter himself allegedly ran amounted to an abdication of supervisory duties.
- Civil conspiracy, on the theory that staff conspired to violate Leeper’s constitutional rights.
The court dismissed the failure-to-train claims, reasoning that the allegations pointed to intentional criminal conduct by staff rather than a training deficiency. All claims against Trousdale County and its officials were also dismissed, because the county neither owns nor operates the prison and had no custodial relationship with Leeper, a state prisoner.1Findlaw. Estate of Leeper v. CoreCivic Inc.
The court distinguished the case from Sixth Circuit precedent where drug-related prison death claims had failed, finding that the estate had provided specific, non-conclusory allegations about how drugs entered the facility and evidence that officials had notice through daily overdoses and officer arrests. While CoreCivic pointed to steps it had taken, such as drug-sniffing dogs and adjusted inmate counts, the court concluded a jury could find those measures unreasonable given that a senior administrator was allegedly running the smuggling operation.1Findlaw. Estate of Leeper v. CoreCivic Inc.
Where Warden Vantell Stands
Vantell was placed on involuntary administrative leave in February 2025. CoreCivic declined to explain why, citing employee privacy, and said the action was “completely unrelated” to the DOJ investigation.12Nashville Banner. Trousdale Prison Warden Administrative Leave He resigned on March 21, 2025.13WSMV. Warden of Trousdale Turner Correctional Center Steps Down He remains a defendant in the Leeper case and in a separate 2025 lawsuit filed by inmate Charles Anderson, which alleges Vantell attempted to cover up a sexual assault and denied Anderson protective custody despite ongoing gang violence and extortion.14Tennessee Lookout. CoreCivic Inmate Sues Trousdale Turner Prison Staff Over Alleged Extortion
What His Father Did Next
After Kylan’s death, Tim Leeper founded Kylan’s Light, a nonprofit focused on prison reform in Tennessee. The organization pushes for greater transparency and accountability in the state’s correctional system, raises public awareness about conditions inside Tennessee prisons, and supports families of incarcerated people.15Kylan’s Light. Kylan’s Light Tim Leeper has summarized the aim this way: “You can’t have accountability before you have transparency.”16Nashville Scene. Prison Reform Legislation Tennessee
Two Tennessee bills are tied directly to that advocacy.
Private Prison Death-Rate Law (HB1144 / SB1115)
This law requires CoreCivic-run facilities to reduce their inmate population by 10% if their death rate reaches twice that of comparable state-run prisons. The operator must then resolve the conditions causing the elevated death rate before the population can be restored. The Tennessee Senate passed SB1115 unanimously, 30-0, in April 2025.7Tennessee Lookout. Tennessee Senate Puts Restriction on Private Prisons With High Death Rate House sponsor Representative Clark Boyd credited Tim Leeper’s advocacy for bipartisan support.17NewsChannel 5 Nashville. He Fought for Prison Reform After His Son Died Behind Bars As of mid-2025 reporting, CoreCivic already met the threshold that would trigger the law’s population-reduction mandate.6CBS News. Private Prison Operator CoreCivic Lawsuit Inmate Killed
Family Advisory Board (SB2531 / HB2111)
Tim Leeper also pushed for legislation creating a state family advisory board within the Tennessee Department of Correction. Sponsored by Senator Tom Hatcher and Representative Clark Boyd, the law establishes a nine-member board made up entirely of family members of currently or formerly incarcerated Tennesseans, tasked with improving communication between families and TDOC, assisting with family reunification, and providing feedback directly to the state legislature. Governor Bill Lee signed it on May 26, 2026, as Public Chapter 1006, effective July 1, 2026.18Tennessee General Assembly. SB 2531 Bill Info
A separate measure, Senate Bill 1820, requires a one-year body camera pilot program for correctional officers at Trousdale Turner. Officers must wear cameras whenever they could come into contact with inmates, and CoreCivic bears the estimated cost of more than $350,000. Footage involving suspected illegal acts or policy violations must be transmitted to the Department of Correction within 72 hours and to the district attorney within 48 hours of review. The pilot runs through December 31, 2027.19Tennessee Lookout. Trousdale Turner Guards to Wear Body Cameras at Privately Run Prison
The federal civil case over Kylan Leeper’s death remains pending, with the surviving claims against CoreCivic, Vantell, and Porter headed toward discovery.