SC inmates indicted for murder and mayhem in 2018 Lee prison riot that left 7 dead

Indictments were announced Thursday morning against 29 South Carolina state prison inmates in the 2018 prison riot at Lee Correctional Institution near Bishopville that left seven inmates dead and 22 injured.

In a press conference that included South Carolina’s top law enforcement officers, officials described wild hours of murder, mayhem and blood-letting where Lee inmates from rival gangs seeking revenge for two killings hunted each other down and killed and maimed at will. Meanwhile, other inmates barricaded themselves in cells for safety.

The indictments, in a case code-named “Yard Work” announced by S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson and Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling, contained charges of murder against three inmates. The murder convictions carry a sentence of from 30 years to the death penalty.

In addition to murder, the more than 70 charges against the inmates included 21 charges of conspiracy ( which carries a five-year maximum sentence), 19 charges of assault and battery by mob first degree where death results (a minimum 30-year sentence), four charges of assault and battery resulting in bodily injury (a maximum 25-year sentence) and 24 charges of prisoners carrying a weapon (up to a 10-year sentence), according to the indictments.

Officials indicated, but did not say directly, that more indictments might be forthcoming.

One of the inmates charged was Michael Juan Smith, who is known for shooting and paralyzing a University of South Carolina student, Martha Childress, on a crowded street in 2013 in Five Points, Wilson said. Smith is charged with assault and battery by mob and a weapons violation.

Smith, 28, is being held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center awaiting a retrial on new charges connected to the Childress’ shooting after his conviction was reversed earlier this year by the State Supreme Court. Smith was also sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in prison for a weapons violation.

Attorney General’s Office prosecutor Creighton Waters gave the following timeline of the killings and the riot, which started in the early evening of April 15, 2018, and ended about 3 a.m. the next morning:

First, an inmate, Michael Milledge, who was serving a 25-year sentence for trafficking crack cocaine, was unaffiliated with any gang, was attacked by two other inmates in Lee’s F-3 dormitory, by gang member Damonte Rivera and another inmate, who was not identified. Rivera, who was serving a life sentence for murder, and the other inmate were members of the G (for Gangster Nation) gang.

Milledge was killed, and contraband was stolen from him. That angered Blood gang members, who lived with Milledge in dormitory F-3, retaliated “and they killed Mr. Rivera” and another inmate, Waters said.

Word of the killings by the Bloods on the G’s then spread throughout the prison by cell phones. In dormitory F-5, the G’s and the Crips gang banded together against the Bloods, and inmates from the various gangs spilled out into a prison breezeway.

In the breezeway, which was an enclosed area whose fences were tipped with razor wire, the Bloods quickly found themselves outnumbered by the Crips and G’s gang members.

Inmates, some of whom were wearing improvised body armor, were armed with homemade weapons including shanks (knives), axes and hatchets.

“The Bloods tried to escape down the breezeway, many of them tried to escape over the razor wire, three of the individuals did not,” Waters said.

The three Bloods who were then killed were Corey Scott, Joshua Jenkins and Raymond Scott, a high-level Blood gang member, Waters said. Corey Scott was serving 22 years on a kidnapping conviction; Jenkins was serving 15 years on an attempted murder conviction; and Raymond Scott was serving 25 years on an assault and battery charge with intent to kill.

From there, inmates using cell phones spread the word to another dormitory, F-1, where the Bloods outnumbered everyone else “and at that point, the Bloods sought to take out revenge on the Crips. Most of the Crips were able to barricade themselves into one cell,” Waters said.

“However, one Crip, Cornelius McClary, got caught out in the open and he was stabbed repeatedly by multiple individuals and ultimately perished as a result of that,” Waters said. “There were a number of inmates who were attacked who ultimately survived.”

McClary was serving 25 years on a first degree burglary conviction. The seventh inmate who died was identified as Eddie Casey Gaskins, who was serving 10 years on a domestic violence first degree conviction.

The three murder charges brought are in connection with Rivera’s death, officials said. Charged with murder are: Stephen J. Green, Richardo Labruce Joseph, and Daniel Lamar Peay.

Bakari Sellers, a Columbia attorney who represents Jenkins’ estate and four other inmates injured in the riot, said Thursday he appreciates law enforcement’s efforts.

“But the largest indictment here is on the state of South Carolina and the state’s chronic underfunding of the prison system that has caused a serious lack of resources for inmates and staff,” Sellers said. “The neglect has led to multiple deaths and instances such as this throughout the system and at Lee County in particular.”

Cell phone communication between inmates and others led to the “mob riot,” Wilson said in a press conference.

The indictments come out of the State Grand Jury, which has statewide jurisdiction in crimes, Wilson said.

Stirling, who for years has crusaded for using available technology that would jam cell phones within state prisons, said, “The reason we are here today is because of these cell phones ... which are essentially a weapon in inmates’ hands.” Federal regulations prevent state prison systems from using the jamming technology, he said.

Stirling also said his department took various actions to guard against another riot:

▪ About 50 “problematic” inmates were transferred to prison facilities out of state.

▪ Security netting was installed in several areas.

▪ More cameras were installed.

▪ Measures were taken to better separate violent inmates from others.

▪ Monitoring inmates’ profiles and life events to detect events that might trigger an inmate to violence.

▪ Implementing more efficient measures to detect and confiscate cell phones, measures that have led to a decreased incidence of inmate killings.

▪ Making available more programs to help inmates re-enter civilian life and control their behavior while in prison.

Prisoners have more opportunities than ever now to better their lives while in prisons, but they have to take their own initiative, Stirling said.

“The handcuffs that they come in with don’t turn into halos once they enter our facilities — they have to make that opportunity to better themselves,” Stirling said. “We can only do so much.”

Third Circuit Solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney III said the investigation was “a very complicated case. You can imagine investigating a crime scene inside a prison. ... (T)he first thing these criminals did was destroy the video taping system so there wouldn’t be evidence.”

Lee Correctional Institution is in Lee County, one of the counties within Finney’s jurisdiction. Most, if not all, of the prosecutions will be handled in connection with Finney’s office.

When details behind the indictments are made more public in court hearings and possible trials, that information will likely yield the fullest picture yet of what happened during the riot.

The eight hours of chaos, mayhem and killings at the Lee County Correctional Institution in early April 2018 turned out to be nation’s deadliest riot in nearly 25 years.

After the riot, prison officials blamed the riot on gangs, money and cell phones.

According to the S.C. Department of Corrections website, Lee Correctional Institution was and remains a high-security prison primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems.

Housing at Lee consists of single and double cells, and all perimeters are double-fenced with extensive electronic surveillance, according to the department.

Investigating agencies in the case included State Law Enforcement Division, the S.C. Department of Corrections’ Division of Police Services, the Third Circuit Solicitor’s Office, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The cases will be prosecuted by Attorney General’s State Grand Jury Division along with Special Assistant Third Circuit Solicitor R. Knox McMahon, a retired state judge, and Special Assistant Third Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese, a retired 5th Judicial Circuit Solicitor from Columbia.

Here are the 29 inmates and the major charges against them:

▪ Stephen J. “Tank” Green, murder and assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Michael “Flame” Juan Smith, assault and battery by mob, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Andre T. “Fang” Boone, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Michael “Mikey” Antonio William, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Jerrell Rashaun Jackson, assault and battery by mob 1st degree, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Keon Daunte Moore, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Rico Hickman, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Mike Smalls, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Tyrone Lewis, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Teron “2-5” Hikeen Jackson, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Jacoby Jamar Gregory, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Shawn Roseberry Bisnauth, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Arsenio Donta Charle Colclough, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Torey “Zay” Robert Blackwell, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Rahim “Zilla” F. Carter, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Montez “Booger Rat” Lavarrey Rutledge, prisoner carrying a concealed weapon.

▪ Ricardo “Townhead” Labruce Joseph, murder, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Danielle “P” Lamar Peay, murder, assault and battery by mob 1st degree, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Harold “Red” Leon Junes III, assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Jeffrey Samuels, assault and battery by mob second degree (with bodily injury).

▪ Kevin “KB” Tyrone Bryant, assault and battery by mob 2nd degree.

▪ Jody “Dirt” Lovonte Gary, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Jordan “Chucky” Russell Wall, assault and battery by mob 1st and 2nd degree.

▪ Chan “Bun C” Soheap Bun, prisoner carrying a weapon.

▪ Richard “White Boy Lyles” Dewayne Lyles, three counts of assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Joshua Phillips, three counts of assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Christopher “P-90” Devaul Lovely, three counts of assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Derrick “9-0” Jerrod Rice, three counts of assault and battery by mob 1st degree.

▪ Antwan Dominique Grayson, prisoner carrying a weapon.

This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 11:51 AM.