Man convicted of murder in Lexington County found dead in prison

A man convicted of murder in Lexington County was pronounced dead at a South Carolina prison Tuesday.

Steven Roy Earley Jr., 43, was found dead in Tyger River Correctional Institution.

The Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office said Earley’s death appeared to be a hanging and he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to multiple reports.

The coroner’s office says it was called to the prison between 1:45 and 3 a.m., wspa.com reported.

Earley was serving a 30-year sentence for murder, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections. He was convicted in 2002 and wasn’t eligible for parole prior to a projected release date in 2032.

Earley was arrested in November 2001 in connection with the murder of a homeless man in West Columbia, according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.

Tyger River Correctional Institution is a medium-security state prison for men located in Enoree.

Early had been disciplined three times in prison, twice for the use or possession of drugs and once for trafficking and trading, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

This is the second inmate who has died in a South Carolina correctional institute in the past three days. On Sunday, an inmate was killed during an altercation, and eight more were hospitalized, at the Turbeville Correctional Institution.

Allen Jerome Capers was killed by other inmates an S.C. Department of Corrections official said.

This story was originally published January 2, 2018 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Man convicted of murder in Lexington County found dead in prison."