COLUMBIA, S.C. — Four inmates were found dead Friday morning in a dorm at one of South Carolina’s maximum-security men’s prisons, authorities said.
The inmates were found at Kirkland Correctional Institution in the capital city, Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. Stirling did not say how they died.
Department spokesman Sommer Sharpe identified the four inmates in a news release as John King, 52; Jason Kelley, 35; Jimmy Ham, 56; and William Scruggs, 44.
King was serving time for a variety of crimes and had a projected release date of October 2020. Kelley was serving 15 years for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He was scheduled for release in August 2020.
Ham was scheduled for release this November after serving a sentence for a variety of offenses. Scruggs was sentenced to life in prison for murder and first-degree burglary.
Stirling said he asked the State Law Enforcement Division to assist Corrections police with their investigation. Coroner Gary Watts confirmed he was investigating four deaths at the prison but wouldn’t give any details about how the inmates died.