Lavell Lane
Lavell Lane, 29, grew up in Brooklyn, where family say he was social and athletic, ran cross-country, played basketball and football, and loved writing songs, poetry and scripture. His family says he had schizophrenia and was taken to the Spartanburg County Detention Center in October 2022 after a mental health crisis, and he died there on October 3, 2022, about five hours later. The family says a nurse gave him an antipsychotic injection at the jail and that deputies used a stun gun and pepper spray on him, and the family's lawsuit against the county and sheriff's office says staff gave the drug without the required trial and failed to monitor him. The coroner's office lists neuroleptic malignant syndrome as the cause of death and the manner as natural, while the family's attorney says the syndrome came from the injection. The sheriff's office declined to comment, and state investigators concluded their work without recommending criminal charges.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). The coroner ruled the death neuroleptic malignant syndrome from an antipsychotic reaction, while the family and their attorney Christopher Pracht say staff gave him antipsychotic injections without the required trial and failed to monitor him, and say deputies tased and pepper sprayed him before he was found dead.
Reported by: Spartanburg County Coroner's Office (medical examiner or coroner); Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger (medical examiner or coroner); his family's lawsuit and attorney Christopher Pracht (family or their lawyers); Beverly Lane-Reese, his mother (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: His family sued Spartanburg County and the sheriff's office in 2023, and that case is still pending, and they later filed a separate lawsuit against Spartanburg Regional Health Services, with no settlement or award reported.
Sources (14)
- Family looking answers after inmate dies in Spartanburg Co.
- Inmate dies at Spartanburg Co. Detention Center
- Coroner release details following investigation of 4 inmate deaths at Spartanburg County jails
- 2 inmates die in Spartanburg County jail, marking 3 deaths within a month
- Another Spartanburg inmate has died in string of recent jail deaths
- More people died in this Upstate detention center than any other SC county jail, study says
- Calls made for DOJ investigation at Spartanburg jail weeks after report on inmate deaths
- An overcrowded Upstate jail is among SC's deadliest. One man's family wants answers.
- Chorus calls for DOJ to investigate Charleston jail conditions, health care
- Spartanburg County Sheriff comments on recent inmate deaths
- Family of Lavell Lane, Civil Rights group respond after SLED closes jail death investigation
- No charges expected in Oct. 2022 Spartanburg jail death
- Family sues Spartanburg County and sheriff's office after son dies in custody
- Family of Lavell Lane files new lawsuit against hospital, medical staff