For second day in a row an inmate is killed at infamous South Carolina prison
For the second day in a row, an inmate at Lee Correctional Institution was attacked and killed, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections. That’s the same prison where seven inmates were killed and 17 more were injured during a violent incident in 2018.
Xavier Martez Delesline, a 33-year-old inmate at Lee Correctional, died at the prison Tuesday, the S.C. Department of Corrections said Wednesday in a news release.
Delesline was assaulted in a common area of his living unit at the prison, according to the release.
Another deadly assault
His death happened after fellow Lee Correctional inmate, 37-year-old Mario Leven Harrison, also was assaulted in a common area of his living unit and later died, the S.C. Department of Corrections said. Harrison was attacked and then died at a hospital Monday, the S.C. Department of Corrections previously reported.
Despite any similarities, S.C. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Chrysti Shain told The State that the attacks were unrelated. The assaults occurred in different units of the prison and were different situations, Shain said Wednesday.
No other injuries were reported in either of the deadly assaults.
Autopsies will be performed on both Harrison and Delesline, the S.C. Department of Corrections said.
Both deaths are being investigated as suspected homicides by the South Carolina Department of Corrections Inspector General’s office with assistance from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Crime Scene unit and the Lee County Coroner’s Office.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no arrest warrants have been issued in either of the separate attacks.
The prison
Lee Correctional is a men’s-only, split-custody prison that houses inmates in “close” (high-security) and “medium security” facilities, according to the Department of Corrections. Like other close prisons in South Carolina, Lee is “designed primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences, and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems,” the Department of Corrections said.
The prison is in Bishopville, about 50 miles east of Columbia.
Another inmate at Lee Correctional died earlier this year in what was originally investigated as a suspicious incident.
On May 9, 40-year-old Leo Jermaine Cheeks was found unresponsive in his cell, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections. Days later, an autopsy was performed, and it showed no foul play causing the death to no longer be investigated as suspicious, the S.C. Department of Corrections said.
History of violence
In September 2024, another inmate at Lee Correctional was killed. Idris Wasim Ballard-Gallardo, 23, died at the prison after he was stabbed while he was in a common area of his assigned housing unit, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections.
Lee Correctional has had other violent incidents in recent years. The State previously reported there have been several large insurrections, including one in which an inmate overpowered a guard and used his keys to free other prisoners from their cells.
Another incident when a prisoner assaulted a staff member happened in February 2020, when an inmate attacked and tried to sexually assault an employee at Lee Correctional, according to the Department of Corrections.
In January 2021, an inmate at Lee Correctional died after a fight with other prisoners.
In another incident at Lee Correctional in November 2020, one inmate was killed after being attacked by other prisoners.
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