Lee M. Cawthon
Lee Mikeal Cawthon, 45, died at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina, on October 12, 2021. The South Carolina Department of Corrections said he was found dead in his cell and had no cellmate. The department and the State Law Enforcement Division are investigating the death as a suspected suicide, and an autopsy was to determine the cause.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. The South Carolina Department of Corrections said he was found dead in his cell with no cellmate and that the death is being investigated as a suspected suicide.
Reported by: South Carolina Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); State Law Enforcement Division (outside investigators).
Custody: Serving a sentence, held about 3 years.
Sources (4)
- Incarceration Transparency, South Carolina Deaths Behind Bars (Prof. Madalyn Wasilczuk and Incarceration Transparency)
- South Carolina Department of Corrections records, via UCLA Law Behind Bars
- SC inmate dies in suspected suicide at Lee Correctional Institution
- SCDOC: Upstate man who killed wife, hid her body in oil drum dies of suspected suicide in prison