SC jail staff made contact with Richland detainee hours before he died, video shows
The video is grainy. The movements of Richland County detention officers and another staffer inside a cell block stutter through the camera as they bring Lason Butler out of a cell strapped to a gurney and move him to another cell.
The video taken from a surveillance camera inside an Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center cell block was reviewed by The State Media Co., which was not given a copy of the video nor allowed to record it. The video shows the interactions that the detention center jail staff had with the 27-year-old Butler in the hours before he died of dehydration on Feb. 12.
The video gives more context to the death, which the county’s coroner has ruled a homicide. The video gives an indication of Butler’s condition about a half day before his death.
The State reached out to Richland County but did not hear back before Wednesday morning.
The jail’s medical provider, Wellpath, said “out of respect to the Butler family and the legal process, any detailed comment at this time would seem inappropriate. The death of any patient while under our care and the custody of the county is sad and our thoughts are with the Butler family.”
Butler had been in the jail since Jan. 31, when he was accused of traffic violations.
Sometime during his detention, jail staff transferred Butler from one cell block to the “Special Housing Unit,” or SHU. That unit is for mentally ill or violent detainees or those on suicide watch. Detainees are housed in isolated cells in the SHU.
An autopsy report says that Butler was on suicide watch.
At about 5 p.m. on Feb. 11, four detention officers and another staffer came into the SHU, the video shows.
The other staffer appeared to be wearing medical scrubs but it’s unclear from the video if she is a medical professional.
The detention officers carried a gurney with straps. The officers entered a cell on the second story and came out with Butler strapped onto the gurney.
Butler didn’t move as the officers carried him on the gurney out of his cell toward a set of stairs, the video shows. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, one of the officers lost his grip and dropped the gurney. As Butler laid on the gurney on the ground, the officers stood around him as if trying to figure out what to do.
The officers picked up the gurney and took Butler into a first-story cell, the video shows. A staffer went into the cell and left moments later. She returned minutes later, entered Butler’s cell and left again. What she did inside the cell isn’t visible but she saw Butler alive for the last time.
The autopsy report says Butler died later that evening at midnight. Jail staff found Butler dead at about 7 a.m. on Feb. 12. Rodents had bitten his body, according to the autopsy report.
The pathologist who examined Butler’s body concluded that he died of “complications of acute dehydration.”
Butler had been booked at Alvin S. Glenn about two weeks before he died after a car wreck, police reports say.
On Jan. 31 at about 6 a.m., a Richland County deputy was patrolling Interstate 77 between the exits for Decker Boulevard and Percival Road when a Dodge Charger sped past him in the middle of two lanes, according to a police report. The driver of the Charger was later identified as Butler.
The deputy turned on his lights and sirens and pulled behind Butler, the report says. Butler sped up, reaching triple digit speeds. Butler hit an SUV, ending the chase but not the incident.
Butler got out of his car and ran toward the deputy, the report says. The deputy ordered Butler to get on the ground and put his hands behind his back, and Butler complied. The officer handcuffed Butler and checked on the other driver, who was “conscious and alert.” Butler and the other driver were taken to a hospital.
After Butler’s discharge later that day, the deputy took him to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on charges of reckless driving, not stopping for police and driving on a suspended license — all misdemeanors.
Butler’s condition when he arrived at the jail is unknown. What is known is that on Feb. 1, Judge Mildred Rita Metts granted Butler a $1,500 surety bond at a hearing inside the jail.
Court records indicate that the bond wasn’t paid. Also, the Cayce Police Department placed a hold on Butler, according to a spokesperson for Cayce. The Cayce department had a warrant for Butler’s arrest and wanted to pick him up at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center if the bond was paid. Cayce police never got the go-ahead to pick up Butler before he died. Exactly what Butler’s charge was in Cayce isn’t stated in online court records.
Specter of criminal charges
The video shows detention officers and another staffer saw Butler about seven hours before he died.
Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford has said that staff knew Butler wasn’t eating or drinking. Rutherford, who is a nurse practitioner, said when people are malnourished, care providers should monitor the intake of food and water or give intravenous hydration. If that wasn’t possible at the jail, staff should have taken Butler to a care facility, according to Rutherford.
Rutherford said it was the jail staff’s “lack of action” that led her to rule Butler’s death was a homicide.
Through an opens record request, The State asked for records from Richland County on Butler’s condition but was denied those documents. The county cited that the documents were subject to a “prospective law enforcement proceeding.” Under South Carolina law, a government may withhold public documents if it would “interfere with a prospective law enforcement proceeding.”
The specter of criminal charges is looming after Rutherford’s homicide ruling. While the homicide ruling doesn’t guarantee criminal charges, the ruling could be a step that way. It’s unknown who might be charged, but the Richland County Sheriff’s Department is investigating.
Richland County contracts with Wellpath, a Tennessee company, to provide medical services at the county jail. The state Department of Corrections also contracts with Wellpath to provide medical services in state prisons.
The State reported last week that Wellpath has faced 19 federal and state lawsuits in Richland County since 2019. Most — 13 — accused the company of providing inadequate care. Four of the lawsuits have been dismissed, and the company has denied the accusations.
This month, a Wellpath nurse in North Carolina was indicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge following a man’s death in a county jail, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. The nurse was nearby as detention officers hog-tied a man and left him prone for almost an hour. The man later died from asphyxiation and oxygen deprivation as a result of being hog-tied, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Wellpath said the situation that led to the death in North Carolina was “chaotic” with “several corrections officers responding.”
“We believe the facts will show our nurse did not engage in misconduct and acted within Wellpath’s policies while providing the level and type of care appropriate in the circumstances,” the company said. The nurse “worked diligently and compassionately” to save the man’s life.
No criminal charges and lawsuits have been filed in Butler’s death. But a lawsuit is expected from Butler’s family.
Butler’s family is being represented by attorneys Bakari Sellers and Audi Jones.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 10:43 AM.