Gregorio Leon
Gregorio "Greg" Leon founded the San Jose Mexican Restaurants chain in South Carolina's Midlands, and his attorney described him as a devoted family man, the father of seven, and a devout Catholic. He was held at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia, where the South Carolina Department of Corrections said he was found hanging in his cell on July 14, 2023. The department said he apparently took his own life in a short window between security checks, that he may have gone undetected for up to 20 minutes, and that staff had no indication he needed suicide watch. Accounts differ on whether he was pronounced dead at the scene or taken to a nearby hospital and died there that night. SLED, the Richland County coroner and the department's inspector general are investigating the death as a suspected suicide.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). The South Carolina Department of Corrections says Leon apparently took his own life during a short gap between security checks, and that he had no indication he needed suicide watch; the reporting cited does not describe any family or lawyer rejecting that account.
Reported by: South Carolina Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); State Law Enforcement Division (outside investigators); Richland County coroner (medical examiner or coroner); SCDC inspector general (outside investigators).