Sheriff: 3 charged with kidnapping, manslaughter in Lancaster man’s overdose death
Three people have been charged in connection with the drug overdose death of a Lancaster man in 2019, deputies said.
Deana Renee Gibson, 37, Rakevius Demont Nesbit, 31, and Samuel Markevis Wright, 31, face charges of kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter in the September 2019 death of Timothy Taylor Wash, said Barry Faile, Lancaster County Sheriff.
Wash’s body was found dead inside his SUV in a parking lot in Lancaster on Sept. 10, 2019, Faile said. Wash, 26, died from a drug ovedose said Karla Knight-Deese, Lancaster County Coroner.
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A nine-month investigation by detectives with the sheriff’s office found that Wash had been with the three suspects when he took the drugs, two days before his body was found, Faile said.
The investigation showed Gibson, Nesbit, and Wright loaded Wash into the back seat of his Ford Escape after the overdose, then drove the SUV to a parking lot, Faile said.
None of the suspects sought medical help for Wash, Faile said.
“Unfortunately for Mr. Wash, those who could have gotten him help chose not to do so and left him helpless and alone in his car in the dark of night,” Faile said in a statement to The Herald.
Kidnapping carries a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison for a conviction, South Carolina law shows. Involuntary manslaughter, defined as reckless disregard of the safety of others, carries a potential sentence of five years in prison for a conviction.
No court dates have been set for trial. The S.C. Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case.
All three suspects are being held without bond at the Lancaster County jail, according to court and police records.
Lancaster County has prosecuted other suspects accused of roles involving narcotics in a fatal overdose. In November a Lancaster woman was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter after selling a fatal overdose mixture, court records show.
In 2018, a Lancaster man was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug and other charges after pleading guilty to providing a fatal opioid overdose, according to court records.
