COLUMBIA, S.C. — A report is giving some new detail into the death of an inmate at the Richland County jail last week.
Antonius Randolph, 29, was found dead last Friday afternoon. He was there on charges of sexual assault and kidnapping.
At present, Richland County deputies and the coroner's office are investigating the circumstances around his death. An incident report released to News19 Monday from the Richland County Sheriff's Office says Randolph had been scheduled for a bond court appearance at 2 p.m. on January 27. A captain at the jail, however, said that at 1:31 p.m. Randolph had refused to go to court.
At 2:51 p.m., Randolph was found unresponsive inside a cell and was pronounced dead. The report says blood was found around his body but does not indicate how he may have died.
The jail was put on lockdown after his body was discovered.
Randolph is the third person to have died at the county-operated jail facility in just under a year. The most recent before him occurred on Dec. 7 when 38-year-old James W. Mitchell of Columbia was found dead.
And, in February of 2021, another inmate, 27-year-old Lason Butler or Orangeburg was found in his cell dead.
Randolph had been at the jail since his arrest on January 21. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott held a news conference two days later to say that Randolph was a serial rape suspect who may have been responsible for six sexual assaults. According to the sheriff, Randolph had met the victims through an app.
Lott had called for other potential victims to come forward to either the sheriff's office or to seek help from Pathways of Healing, a sexual assault and counseling organization. Pathways can be reached at 803.771.7273.
