SUMTER, S.C. — Days after law enforcement says a woman was found unresponsive in the county jail, her family is speaking out.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) says staff members at Sumter-Lee Detention Center found 26-year-old Hosanna Dinkins in her cell and tried to revive her, but we not successful. SCSO says Dinkins was ordered to stay in by a probate judge while she waited for a bed to open in a state mental health facility.
While the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has been called in to investigate, Dinkin’s family is working to keep her memory alive.
“When I began to study Hosanna’s name, her name is ‘save us,” Benita Robinson with Racial Justice Network explains. “We couldn't save her. But her name will save so many more. Her name. Her name will save so many more.”
Robinson also says this issue is personal for her, because Dinkins is her cousin.
According to SCSO, Dinkins was being kept in the jail without criminal charges while her father says she was struggling with depression and schizophrenia.
“She was fighting that sickness for six years. Six years she fought it,” Dinkins’ father, Hosie, shares. “And I fought that along with her because that’s hard on me.”
“The father went to court asking to help my child. That's all he asked for,” Robinson explains about Hosie. “He said, ‘She's trying to commit suicide. She's trying to hurt herself. I can’t do it, can you help me?”
But the family says Dinkins was kept in a holding cell at the Sumter-Lee Detention Center since a bed wasn’t open at a mental health facility. Hosie says he was unable to visit with his daughter.
News 19 asked SCSO about the circumstances Dinkins was held under. According to the department, Dinkins was in a cell by herself with access to video visits. Because of COVID concerns, however, “there has been no visitation for several weeks,” SCSO says.
There are mental health counselors on duty eight hours a day every weekday, according to SCSO.
“I remember her as being a sweet girl. Meek, humble, quiet. Very respectable. So when I found that she was here…all I could think about was, “We need to get her out of there. We need to get her out of there,” Ann Holloman, Dinkins’ cousin, details. “Somebody does need to be held accountable for what has happened to Hosanna because she did not deserve this. She was such a sweet girl. She did not deserve this and she is going to be truly missed, but I know her death is not going to be in vain because there are other people in there.”
The jail’s assistant director, Chanae Lumpkin, says she estimates there are about 15 people currently being held at the detention center awaiting mental health treatment or evaluation.
“Who's going to be held accountable? Because it's their family today, but it could be yours tomorrow,” Robinson shares. “Because at any point, we can all go through depression. At any point, we can all go through PTSD. These are all mental health issues that millions of people suffer with.”
While Dinkins’ family says she struggled with mental health issues, they are also remembering her as a kind, gentle spirit who loved the skating rink, cooking and going shopping, her aunt Janice Holmes explains.
“She was a real mild, sweet young lady. I've never heard her raise her voice. All I've ever heard was laughter and joy and when our girls got together,” Holmes remembers. “She just always been mild, always been settled, always had a beautiful smile.”
A smile that her older brother, Ernest Dinkins, remembers shone bright when she would see him.
“When I come by and see her everytime she would come by and give her big brother a hug,” Ernest says. “She would hug everybody. Everybody was so glad to see her. And they didn’t know this was going to be the last time. SometimeGod brings people around just for you to see for the last time, you just don’t know it though.”
Now, the Dinkins family says they’re sharing Hosanna’s story in hopes that others waiting for mental health treatment in jails across the state will get the help they need.
“She will truly be missed. I really do miss her. She was a sweet person,” Dinkins’ sister, Barbara Simien, shares. “And this should have never happened to her at all.”
News 19 spoke with a senior attorney for Disability Rights South Carolina who says the State Department of Mental Health is dealing with a lack of staff and resources, so the waitlist is lengthy to serve people like Dinkins.
The family says the autopsy results have not been released yet, but they do tell News 19 that based on the preliminary information, it appears that Dinkins died from a physical complication.
“It was physical. It was not mental, she did not self harm herself,” Robinson says.
The family says Dinkins had no other pre-existing conditions outside of her mental health issues.
Dinkins’ funeral is scheduled for Thursday morning.