Pickens County Sheriff’s Office Requests SLED to Investigate Death of Inmate Detained in Detention Facility
Sheriff Rick Clark has requested that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division conduct an investigation into the death of an inmate that was found hanging in an area used as a cell within the Pickens County Detention Facility.
Sheriff’s Office policy is to request an independent investigation by an outside entity any time that a death occurs inside the facility.
A Pickens County Detention Officer located an adult male (34yoa) at approximately 2:10am this morning hanging by means of a sheet in a bathroom inside the facility. The victim was unconscious and immediate efforts to revive the victim were unsuccessful. He was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Pickens County Coroner.
The inmate had been detained inside the jail since June 29, 2015, after being brought in by authorities from the Easley Police Department for multiple counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct 3rd Offense. At the time of the incident, the inmate was being detained by himself in an arraignment room being utilized as a makeshift cell due to overcrowding at the jail.
The Detention Facility which was built in 1974 has a rated capacity of 93 with a current population of 208. Four Detention Officers were on-duty at the time of the incident overseeing the jail population with a fifth officer at the hospital guarding an inmate receiving health care.
Inquiries concerning the identity of the victim should be directed to the Pickens County Coroner’s Office.
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