Inmate dies at Rock Hill jail: Second in-custody death in 2 weeks in York County
South Carolina state police are investigating after an inmate died Tuesday morning at the Rock Hill jail, police officials said.
The in-custody death is the second at a detention center in York County in the past two weeks.
The 58-year-old male inmate who died Tuesday had been in the Rock Hill jail since Monday on a shoplifting charge, said Lt. Michael Chavis of the Rock Hill Police Department.
The name of the inmate has not been released by police or the York County Coroner.
The man was found unresponsive by Rock Hill police corrections officers in his cell after 3 a.m., a statement from the police department said. Officers gave medical aid and Emergency Medical Services responded, police said.
Rock Hill police notified the State Law Enforcement Division to conduct an outside investigation. SLED is asked to investigate any in-custody death, officials said.
The jail at the Rock Hill Law Center on Black Street in downtown is a temporary holding facility for people arrested by law enforcement in the city, Chavis said.
The jail in Rock Hill and the York County Detention Center in York at the Moss Justice Center are separate and operated by different agencies.
The county jail, run by the York County Sheriff’s Office, holds people who have been charged by area law enforcement agencies and are awaiting trial.
On Feb. 19, a York County jail inmate died after he was taken to a hospital, officials said.
The Feb. 19 death also is under investigation by SLED.
