Leo Jermaine Cheeks
Leo Jermaine Cheeks, 40, died at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina, on Friday, May 9, 2025. He was found unresponsive in his cell. The South Carolina Department of Corrections initially labeled the death suspicious, and its Inspector General's office investigated with the State Law Enforcement Division and the Lee County Coroner. The department said an autopsy found he died of natural causes and showed no foul play.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness. The South Carolina Department of Corrections said an autopsy found he died of natural causes and showed no foul play, after the death was first investigated as suspicious.
Reported by: South Carolina Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); autopsy.
Sources (5)
- SCDC investigates ‘suspicious’ death of inmate at Lee Correctional Institution
- Death of inmate at Lee Correctional Institution confirmed as natural causes
- SCDC: Autopsy rules Lee Correctional inmate died of natural causes
- Autopsy finds South Carolina inmate died of natural causes
- Inmate dies in South Carolina prison and it’s called suspicious, officials say