Prominent Columbia attorney says Richland County jail death was ‘deliberate indifference’
Prominent civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers and attorney Audia Jones are representing the family of a man who died while jailed at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
Lason Butler, 27, of Orangeburg, was found dead in his cell at the Richland County jail on Feb. 12.
“Lason Butler should be alive today,” Sellers, an attorney with Strom Law Firm, said. “But because of the deliberate indifference of Richland County and the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, this young man died alone in a jail cell, the latest casualty of a system that doesn’t care and doesn’t work.”
Richland County, which manages the jail, did not address Sellers’ statement.
Butler had been jailed since Jan. 31 on charges of reckless driving, failure to stop for police and driving with a suspended license. Court records show that he was granted a bond of about $5,000 on Feb. 1 to get out of jail.
The fact that he was still in jail by Feb. 12 likely indicates that Butler had not paid the bond.
At least three people died in the Alvin S. Glenn jail in 2021. Two of those deaths prompted investigations by state agents. Already in2022, two people died in the jail prior to Butler’s death, according to a court official.
“The worst accidents are those that can be prevented. Alvin S. Glenn is understaffed, underfunded and overcrowded,” said attorney Audia Jones of the Law Office of Audia Jones. “That is a dangerous combination for guards and inmates alike and a recipe for tragedies like this. Lason Butler and every human deserves better.”
Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center has had ongoing challenges.
It has been plagued by under-staffing and high turnover.
In December, The State reported on how under staffing contributed to a riot at the jail in September.