Deaths in CustodyWork in progressIn progress
Died in prison

Jason Kelley

35 years old · died April 7, 2017 · Kirkland Correctional Institution, Richland County, South Carolina

Jason Kelley, 35, was a man his mother, Becky Kelley, said she wrote to every week, and she said he was reading the Bible, going to church and "really changing." He was killed on April 7, 2017, in a cell at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, one of four men found dead that morning. The Richland County coroner said the men were strangled and all four were killed within 30 minutes. Warrants say two fellow men held at the prison lured the four into the cell, and Denver Simmons told the Associated Press that he and Jacob Philip killed them. The families' lawsuits say prison officials failed to supervise the unit, the Department of Corrections has denied wrongdoing, and Becky Kelley said she has received no answers about how guards missed the attack.

Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (neglect alleged). The coroner's autopsy found he was strangled, and warrants say two fellow prisoners lured him into a cell and strangled him; his family's lawsuit says prison officials failed to supervise the housing unit and protect him.

Reported by: Richland County Coroner Gary Watts (medical examiner or coroner); South Carolina Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); State Law Enforcement Division (outside investigators); Denver Simmons, in an interview with the Associated Press (witnesses); families' lawsuits (family or their lawyers).

Lawsuit: His family and the estates of the other victims sued South Carolina prison officials over the April 2017 killings at Kirkland Correctional Institution, and the lawsuits remain pending with the Department of Corrections denying wrongdoing; no settlement or award amount has been reported.

Sources (14)

See on the national mapAll records

Questions, a correction, or a death I’ve missed? Email me at orion.j.taylor@gmail.com.