Transferred SC inmate dies in Mississippi private prison
A South Carolina inmate died Sunday in a privately run prison in Mississippi where he and several other S.C. inmates had been transferred, a S.C. Department of Corrections spokeswoman confirmed.
Kenneth Harris, 41, began having seizures at about 4 a.m. while in his cell at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, S.C. Corrections spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said.
Harris’ roommate alerted prison officials, who later gave the inmate CPR, Shain said. Harris was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m.
Tuesday, officials conducted an autopsy on Harris, which lead them to suspect there was no foul play, Shain said.
Harris was serving a 22-year sentence after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter and carrying a prohibited weapon, according to his publicly available prisoner profile. His charges originated in Richland and Lexington counties, and he was jailed in 2007.
Harris was one of 48 inmates who were transferred to the prison run by CoreCivic in June 2018. The inmates — who were labeled as “problematic” — were moved in the wake of the riot at Lee Correctional, which claimed the lives of seven men.
This story was originally published June 5, 2019 at 12:05 PM.
