ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — On Sunday, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents were requested by the director of the Orangeburg County Detention Center after an inmate died.
County Administrator Harold Young says the inmate's death is not related to recent incidents involving inmates from last week.
“You know, I know we’ve had a couple situations, two incidents, but this is not related," said Young. "The person was never put in the general population area.”
The inmate was arrested Saturday on drug charges, which turned out to be fentanyl. He was found unresponsive the following day.
Young says the inmate was kept in the medical center and refused to be seen by medical professionals.
“He was brought in, checked in as normal, was in the nurse's area waiting to be processed as far as intake. He refused to be seen from the intake medical person twice," said Young. "They kept eye on him and did the regular routine to come back and do the intake, and he was found that next morning unresponsive.”
Young says Orangeburg County takes the health and safety of inmates very seriously.
“At Orangeburg County Detention Center, we take the wellbeing of the inmates seriously. Even though they’re incarcerated, they are human beings, so we treat them as we should, and we try to follow the rules and regulations that we have in place to make sure that their safety is protected.”
SLED continues to investigate the inmates death.