COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says five inmates are responsible for attacking and killing another inmate inside the county jail last week.
Lott held a news conference Friday where he gave new details in the death of 29-year-old Antonious Randolph. Randolph was found unresponsive inside a cell at the jail on January 27, six days after his arrest on sexual assault and kidnapping charges.
Lott said five inmates--including two who were there on charges of murder--schemed and plotted an attack on Randolph with the intent to kill him. Around 8 p.m. on January 26, officers say they carried out the assault. Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford, who joined Lott at the news conference, would not say exactly how Randolph died but both she and the sheriff said the death was brutal.
"They tortured him, they killed him," Lott said.
Rutherford said she believes Randolph died in the early morning of January 27. The jail called the sheriff's department in to investigate around 2:30 p.m. An incident report said blood was around his body.
Lott said investigators believe they known the motivation for the killing but he did not want to reveal it publicly. Lott said their investigation revealed that many of the cell doors at the jail don’t lock, allowing inmates to come and go from their cells.
Just days before his death, Sheriff Lott had held a press conference calling Randolph a serial rapist. He said he was responsible for multiple sexual assault that he committed but using
"It was bad on what he had done, but it was also equally bad what had happened to him," Lott said.
After searching the pod--area where attack took place--Lott said deputies found 17 homemade knives, also known as shanks, as well as cans of bug spray, cell phones, and drugs. Those knives were not used in the killing.
The suspects in Randolph's killing are the following: James Oxendine, Jr., Jayun Harrison, Erick Stewart, Daylan Isreal and Devin Rowe. Each has been charged with murder and conspiracy. Oxendine and Harrison were already being held in the jail on murder charges.
"Just because they go behind the fence they don't stop being a criminal," Lott said.