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Columbia inmate’s death being investigated as homicide

A inmate’s death at Broad River Correctional Institution is being investigated as a homicide.
A inmate’s death at Broad River Correctional Institution is being investigated as a homicide. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Authorities are investigating a suspected homicide after an inmate at the Broad River Correctional Institution died on June 30.

James Harrison Pennington, 44, died in his cell at the Columbia prison.

Pennington pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct in 2019 in Cherokee County according to South Carolina court records. He was expected to be released in 2025.

The South Carolina Department of Corrections, South Carolina Law Enforcement and the Richland County Coroner’s office are investigating the death and the coroner’s office plans to conduct an autopsy.

Profile Image of Sydney Dunlap
Sydney Dunlap
The State
Sydney Dunlap is a reporter at The State covering general news. She attends the University of South Carolina, where she is the editor-in-chief of the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Gamecock. Her writing and photography have won awards on both the local and national levels.
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