Alan Ronald Thibodeau
Alan Thibodeau, 51, was a drummer and a devoted son and brother from Virginia who had schizophrenia and diabetes, and his family said he was the primary caregiver for his elderly parents. He was held at the Bamberg County Detention Center in South Carolina from February 2022, and his family says he did not receive his mental health or diabetes medication and lost a large amount of weight. Jailers found him unresponsive in his cell on July 10, 2022, and he died at a hospital on July 23, 2022, of multiple organ failure, with an autopsy also reporting severe malnutrition. His family's lawsuits against Bamberg County and a contracted health provider and nurse allege neglect, repeated force including tasers, and that his death would have been prevented with proper care. A Post and Courier report says SLED and the Second Circuit Solicitor found no criminal conduct, and the lawsuits are described as pending.
Cause of death, as reported: Died from neglect by staff (disputed). The autopsy listed multiple organ failure and severe malnutrition, while his family's lawsuits say jail staff withheld his mental health and diabetes medication and food and ignored his declining condition, which the county denies.
Reported by: autopsy report; Edwin Thibodeau, his brother, through a lawsuit (family or their lawyers); I-TEAM investigation (reporters).
Lawsuit: His family sued Bamberg County and a health care contractor in federal court in 2023 (Thibodeau v. Bamberg County), and no settlement or award has been reported. Court record: Thibodeau v. Bamberg County (D.S.C., 2023).
Sources (6)
- Bamberg County sued after mental health patient wastes away in jail, dies
- Man tased and starved in SC jail before death was supposed to be in hospital, suit says
- ‘Didn't look like my brother': Virginia family sues over alleged fatal mistreatment of brother in South Carolina jail
- Virginia man dies after waiting months in SC jail for psychiatric care. His family asks why.
- I-TEAM: Dying for help | How a man’s mental illness in a local jail was his death sentence
- Prosecutors won’t bring criminal charges in Bamberg County jail death