CLEVELAND — In light of Frank Eugene Tyson's death while in the custody of Canton police last week, 3News has launched a team coverage investigation into the incident.
This is one part of that investigation, where we share what we've been able to find out about Tyson by reaching out to Ohio and Stark County officials.
We're sharing this information so that everyone reading at home knows what we know. The details related to his time in prison are in no way meant to imply anything. We're just sharing the facts we've gathered about him in our investigation of his death.
Tyson had been out of prison for 13 days when he died in police custody on April 18, 2024, at the age of 53. He was released from the Belmont Correctional Institute in St. Clairsville, Ohio, on April 6.
Tyson had been serving a 24-year sentence for kidnapping, burglary, grand theft of a vehicle, receiving stolen property, and failing to comply with a police officer, related to his actions taken on or around July 20, 2000, according to his indictment that was filed eight days after that date.
Tyson's sentence for those actions included three years of parole supervision after his release, according to an official at the Belmont Correctional Institute. The Stark County Clerk of Courts told 3News Investigates that before Tyson was freed, he had requested a hearing to try to remove that parole condition. However, he was released before any hearing was held, so he was officially on parole at the time that he died.
The Ohio Department of Corrections records unit told WKYC Tyson had not yet been assigned a parole officer, prior to his death.
Before Tyson's death last Thursday, an accident report from the Canton Police Department states that Tyson crashed a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu into a utility pole on Sherrick Road in Canton before police were called there. That car was registered to another person, and we haven't been able to get in touch with the registered owner of the car to ask about how Tyson ended up with it.
Tyson's family has since retained the services of attorney Bobby DiCello, who has previously represented the family of Jayland Walker following his shooting death at the hands of Akron police.
"The family is devastated and we are motivated to get justice for Frank Tyson," DiCello said in a statement.
This is what we know about Tyson for now. We'll keep everyone updated as we get more information, and will add context to the facts we've shared here.