RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. _ Four inmates were found dead Friday at one of South Carolina's state prisons.
The men were being held at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Richland County, said Sommer Sharpe, spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
Sharpe identified the men as John King, 52; Jason Kelley, 35; Jimmy Ham, 56; and William Scruggs, 44. The cause of their deaths remained unknown late Friday.
King had been serving time since 1998 for charges out of Greenville County involving two counts of burglary, breaking into a motor vehicle, two vehicle thefts and several larcenies. He had no disciplinary charges filed against him and was set to be released in 2020.
Kelley was serving an aggravated assault and battery charge out of Cherokee County. The Gaffney Ledger reported when he was sentenced that Kelley was initially charged with attempted murder for stabbing his 13-year-old stepson, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.
Ham, who was set to be released later this year, had served since 2008 for charges of aggravated assault and battery, grand larceny and two counts of burglary out of Darlington County.
And Scruggs was serving a life sentence for the abduction and shooting death of a disabled veteran out of Anderson County, according to The Associated Press.
Agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division will lead the investigation into prisoners' deaths, but will be assisted by the Richland County Coroner's Office and the corrections department's police services division, Sharpe said.
Kirkland Correctional Institution is one of the state's high-security facilities. It is also home to a Maximum Security Unit, where the most dangerous and violent prisoners are housed. Kirkland is part of the Broad River Complex off Broad River Road.
There have been previous incidents of violence reported at Kirkland. In 2015, the death of an inmate was attributed to blunt force trauma not due to a fall. There was also an incident in which two inmates took two nurses hostage with homemade knives, after they forced themselves into a nurse station.
In 2016, the agency announced three of its former officers were facing attempted murder charges for allegedly stabbing an inmate who was handcuffed in his cell. A corrections officer also was fired the same year for allegedly hitting a handcuffed inmate in the face.
