Two people died by suicide in Yeadon police custody in 2022, prompting lawsuits, an independent review and calls for changes to the borough's detention practices. Four years after the first death, Yahmae Carson continues to seek answers about her son, Shawn Morcho, who died in a Yeadon Police Department holding cell on July 5, 2022, at age 22.
Morcho would have turned 27 on Tuesday. Carson marked the birthday at his Delaware County gravesite, where she told NBC10 Philadelphia that she brings him flowers every year. According to the station, Carson called 911 on July 5, 2022, because Morcho was acting erratically and needed help, and she asked that he be taken to Recovery Centers of America for treatment. Instead, Yeadon police took him to a holding cell on an outstanding warrant, and he was found dead there less than an hour later.
A Booking That Skipped Basic Safeguards
Officers responding to Carson's call charged Morcho with drug possession for marijuana found in the home and booked him on an active bench warrant tied to a simple assault case in neighboring Darby Borough, rather than directing him toward medical treatment, according to reporting cited by The Philadelphia Inquirer. JustUs PA later reported, based on its review of internal records and video, that the booking lasted 73 seconds, that officers did not read Morcho his Miranda rights or create a lockup paper trail, and that surveillance video showed him before his death.
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of Morcho's estate in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleged that he hanged himself in full view of cell surveillance cameras and that officers failed to check on him or intervene, according to a report from NJAMHAA. The Delaware County District Attorney's Office investigated the circumstances of Morcho's death and found no criminal conduct by the borough police department, per NBC10's reporting.
A Second Death Four Months Later
Morcho's death was not the last. A second person died after attempting suicide while in Yeadon police custody, NBC10 reported. That victim was identified as Wendy Spence, who died by suicide in police custody, according to court filings reviewed by Midpage. In a separate case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said Spence died after hanging herself in a Yeadon Borough Police Headquarters holding cell on Nov. 8, 2022, and approved a gross $2,225,000 settlement in March 2025, according to the court's order.
An independent police study commissioned by Yeadon Borough and conducted by security consultancy The Valori Group concluded that Spence's death was “preventable” and found that the department was operating under prisoner detention policies that had not been updated since June 2009, according to WHYY. Yeadon residents packed borough council chambers four months after Morcho's death, and both families ultimately filed civil lawsuits against the borough, NBC10 reported.
Systemic Strain Inside a Small Department
Yeadon, a Delaware County borough, has a population that is roughly 90% Black, served by a 19-officer police department, per WHYY's reporting. Morcho's death also came amid severe leadership turmoil inside the department: Chief Anthony “Chachi” Paparo had been fired in February 2022 and later won a $2.5 million federal discrimination settlement against the borough in March 2024, according to FOX 29 Philadelphia.
Following the two custody suicides, Yeadon officials asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the police department's prisoner detention procedures, the Inquirer reported. Yeadon officials expressed a desire for mental-health and diversity training, according to the Inquirer. Amid mounting public outrage over holding cell safety, detainees would be jailed in neighboring municipalities, per JustUs PA's reporting.
A Mother's Lawsuit, Still Unresolved
Carson's civil lawsuit against Yeadon Borough remains ongoing, according to NBC10. The suit alleges that the defendants had a duty to prevent self-harm among people in their custody and identifies sensitivity, communication, surveillance, supervision, and referrals as measures that could have prevented Morcho's death. Carson told the station she is still seeking answers about what happened to her son and plans to keep telling his story for the rest of her life.
What the public record establishes
Carson's lawsuit remains ongoing, according to NBC10, and alleges that Yeadon officials failed to use safeguards involving sensitivity, communication, surveillance, supervision and referrals. The available reporting does not identify a final ruling in Morcho's case. As a records-retention baseline, Pennsylvania Code requires temporary detention reports to be retained for three years when they are not part of a criminal-history case file. National comparisons have limits: the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that about 12% of suicide deaths in local jails occurred within the first 24 hours of incarceration from 2015 through 2019, but those figures do not necessarily classify short-term municipal holding cells such as Yeadon's. The bureau tracks arrest-related mortality separately from deaths in prisons and jails. As nonbinding national guidance, a National Institute of Justice case study found that every jail agency it interviewed used staff suicide-prevention training and intake screening, while approaches to observation, suicide watch and cell design varied.
“Money will not bring Shawn back. But we are all seeking equality. Justice for all,” Carson said, according to NBC10. The solicitor for Yeadon Borough had not responded to the station's request for comment as of publication, NBC10 reported.
