Female inmate at SC detention center died after being found unresponsive in cell

A woman who was being held in a South Carolina detention center died Wednesday.

Nathlee Nicole Wright, 26, was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Greenville Memorial Hospital, according to Oconee County Coroner Karl E. Addis.

Wright, of Gastonia, N.C., was arrested and booked into the Oconee County Detention Center Jan. 12, Addis reported.

Shortly after 2 p.m. Jan. 20, was found unresponsive in a holding cell, Addis said.

Wright was resuscitated and initially treated at Oconee Memorial Hospital prior to being transferred to Greenville Memorial that night, according to Addis, adding no traumatic event occurring Wright has been reported.

Wright’s past medical history is being obtained and an autopsy is scheduled for Friday, Addis said.

The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is leading the investigation at the request of the Oconee County Sheriff.

Three inmates in South Carolina correctional institutes have died in the past month.

On Dec. 31, 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.

On Jan. 2, 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.

On Jan. 7, Randall Dustin Simmons, 34, was found dead at Evans Correctional Institution. The SCDOC says “it is believed to be a suicide.”