Man held at Richland County jail dies after being taken to hospital, SC officials say

A man who was being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center was recently taken to an area hospital where he died Sunday morning, according to Richland County officials .

In a news release, officials said that the Richland County Coroner’s Office has been notified, but that office has neither publicly identified the inmate nor released a cause of death.

The inmate, who officials said was “approximately” 71 years old, was arrested and booked into the jail in Columbia July 22 on charges of possession with intent to distribute, according to the release.

On July 25, the inmate was taken from the jail to Prisma Health Richland hospital because of an medical emergency, officials said. Further information about the medical emergency was not available.

At about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center staff was informed that the inmate was acutely ill and had gone into cardiac arrest, according to the release.

“Despite the efforts of the hospital medical staff, the detainee was pronounced deceased in the early morning hours of July 28,” officials said.

With this inmate’s death, 24 people being held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center have either died at the jail or after being taken to an area hospital in the past 10 years.

Nine of those inmates have died since January 2023, and four died 19 days apart this month — two last week from overdoses of drugs Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said were smuggled in “ by either inmates or people who work there .”

The Richland County jail has drawn criticism for years because of deaths , violence , poor conditions and understaffing. In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it was opening an investigation into whether conditions at the jail violated inmate’s civil rights.

For their part, the Richland County administrators maintain that they are continuing to make progress on improving conditions at the jail.