Eddie Casey Jay Gaskins
Eddie Casey Jay Gaskins, 32, was a father of four from Berkeley County, near Charleston, according to the Post and Courier. He had been held at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina, for about two weeks when, on the evening of April 15, 2018, attackers broke into his cell. The newspaper reports that he and two others tried to hold the door shut, but it gave way and he was stabbed, dying that night. The Department of Corrections described the fighting across several housing units, which lasted more than seven hours and killed seven men, as altercations between people held there, and said no staff were injured. Coroner Larry Logan ruled the deaths homicides caused by blood loss from stab and incised wounds, and the Attorney General later said gangs and contraband cell phones were involved.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody. The Lee County coroner ruled the deaths homicides from stab and incised wounds, and the state Department of Corrections said inmate-on-inmate fights in three housing units caused them, with SLED investigating.
Reported by: South Carolina Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); Lee County Coroner Larry Logan (medical examiner or coroner); State Law Enforcement Division (outside investigators); Attorney General Alan Wilson.
News reports (14)
- Lee Correctional prison riot: Seven inmates killed in incident identified in 'mass casualty incident'
- 7 inmates killed, 17 hospitalized after overnight incident at Lee Correctional Institution
- 7 Dead, At Least 17 Wounded In Hours-Long Fights At S.C. Prison
- Vicious prison brawl leaves 7 South Carolina inmates dead
- Deadly S.C. prison brawl spanned 7 hours, 4 inmates killed had Lowcountry ties
- 7 inmates dead, 17 hurt in South Carolina prison fight
- South Carolina prison riot leaves seven inmates dead
- Before deadly riot, South Carolina bused in violent inmates from other prisons
- Coroner: 7 inmates killed at Lee County prison died from blood loss after stabbings
- Coroner: Inmates in SC prison riot bled to death
- How flaws in the SC prison system led to 7 deaths in a single night
- 29 indicted in prison riot that killed 7 inmates at Lee Correctional in 2018
- 29 Indicted In Deadly South Carolina Prison Riot
- Inmate pleads guilty to charges related to South Carolina's deadliest prison riot