Brandon McQuillen dies in fatal Louisville Metro Corrections incident

Brandon McQuillen dies in fatal Louisville Metro Corrections incident

Fatal Louisville Metro Corrections death of Brandon McQuillen – Obituary

Brandon T. McQuillen, 43, was found unresponsive at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on May 20 and later pronounced dead. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has confirmed that McQuillen died by suicide while in custody.

According to jail officials, the incident occurred around 10:39 a.m. when inmates alerted staff to an emergency in one of the dorms. When officers arrived at the housing unit, they discovered McQuillen unconscious. Medical personnel and emergency responders from the Louisville Fire Department and EMS attempted life-saving efforts, but he was declared dead at 11:11 a.m.

Following the incident, the jail’s professional standards unit launched an internal review. Louisville Metro Police’s Public Integrity Unit is also conducting an investigation, as is standard protocol for deaths in custody. Support services, including peer counseling, have been made available to both staff and inmates.

Louisville Metro Corrections Chief Jerry Collins expressed condolences, stating the department mourns the loss of life.

McQuillen had been held at the jail since March in connection with the shooting death of his father, 65-year-old John Thomas McQuillen, in Middletown. Police responded to a report of a shooting on March 21 and found the elder McQuillen with gunshot injuries. He was taken to UofL Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

During the investigation, Brandon McQuillen was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and violating a protective order. Surveillance footage and additional evidence, including an AR-15, handwritten notes indicating a desire to kill his father, and materials for possible explosives, led authorities to later charge him with murder.

Brandon McQuillen’s death is the third in the Louisville jail system so far in 2025. In 2024, three individuals also died while in custody. According to the ACLU of Kentucky, a total of 22 deaths have occurred at the facility since 2021.