Three inmates at prison in Columbia died of COVID-19 this week, SC officials say

The COVID-19 death toll rose at a prison in Columbia after three inmates died in four days this week, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said.

Terry Lee Alewine, 61, Paul Earl Jeter, 73, and Sam Harold Smith, 78, were inmates at Broad River Correctional Institution who died, Department of Corrections officials said.

Alewine, Jeter, and Smith are the third, fourth, and fifth prisoners at Broad River to suffer coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the overall total to 21 Department of Corrections inmates who have died after testing positive for COVID-19.

Smith died Sunday at an outside hospital, according to a news release. Officials said he had several underlying medical conditions when he tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 21, and he was hospitalized five days later.

Alewine previously tested negative for the coronavirus, but the results of a test performed after he died Tuesday at the prison came back positive, according to a news release. Officials said Alewine had several underlying medical conditions.

After testing positive for the coronavirus on Sept. 3, Jeter died in palliative care at Broad River on Sept. 8, according to the Department of Corrections. Like Smith and Alewine, officials said Jeter had several underlying medical conditions before it was confirmed he had COVID-19.

As of Thursday morning, 360 inmates and 54 staff members at Broad River have tested positive for COVID-19, officals reported. The all-male, high-security prison in Columbia houses “violent offenders with longer sentences, and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems,” according to the Department of Corrections.

Other than Tyger River Correctional Institution, where 444 prisoners have been confirmed to have COVID-19, Broad River has the most inmates to have tested positive for the virus of any Department of Corrections facility. But Broad River has the most active coronavirus cases of any South Carolina prison.

At Broad River, 19 of the inmates and 26 employees have recovered, according to the Department of Corrections. Targeted testing has been expanded at Broad River, to ensure that each inmate has been screened at least once, officials said.

Across the 21 prisons in South Carolina operated by the Department of Corrections, there have been 1,932 confirmed cases of the coronavirus among inmates, according to the release. While 966 have recovered, 945 inmates are still active COVID-19 patients, officials said.

The first prisoner in South Carolina to test positive for COVID-19 was reported in April.

Overall, 369 of the 454 Department of Corrections staff members who have tested positive for the coronavirus have been cleared, according to prison officials.

Approximately 5,000 people work at the Department of Corrections, and there are 16,162 inmates in South Carolina.

At Kirkland Correctional Institution, another high-security prison in Columbia, 262 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus, with one dying, according to the Department of Corrections. 177 of those inmates have recovered, prison officials reported.

A combined 82 Department of Corrections employees at Kirkland, Camille Graham and Goodman correctional institutions in Columbia are confirmed to have COVID-19, with 61 of them being cleared, data shows.

The Department of Corrections said it’s working closely with the Department of Health and Environmental Control “to ensure proper guidelines and protocols are being followed to safely manage our staff and offenders,” according to the release.

This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 3:17 PM.

Noah Feit

The State

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Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription