Mark Walker
Mark Walker, a 61-year-old man from Charleston, died on December 6, 2025, while held at the Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston County, South Carolina. Another person held there said he began struggling to breathe, and his cellmates said they believed medical staff did what they could. The county coroner said his death was likely from natural causes, and a State Law Enforcement Division report, citing a Medical University of South Carolina autopsy, attributed it to a stomach hemorrhage linked to Hepatitis C scarring. The sheriff's office did not publicly disclose the death for 23 days, and the coroner's office first shared it on December 29, 2025.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness. The State Law Enforcement Division reported that an autopsy found a natural death from a stomach hemorrhage linked to Hepatitis C scarring, and the coroner said his death was likely from natural causes.
Reported by: South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (outside investigators); Charleston County Coroner Bobbi O'Neal (medical examiner or coroner); Charleston County Sheriff's Office (the agency that held him).
Sources (9)
- 'Natural deaths' at county jail will no longer be made public by CCSO
- Vigil honors inmates lost to neglect, addiction, and systemic failures in county jail
- Charleston Co. Sheriff’s Office decides not to release natural deaths of inmates
- Sheriff's office promises transparency in inmate death cases with thorough investigations
- ‘I was appalled’: Debate after Charleston Co. blocks release of natural deaths of inmates
- Charleston County Sheriff's Office criticized for new inmate death policy
- Report provides new insight on inmate who died in custody at Charleston County jail
- Ending prompt notice of deaths at Charleston jail a step backward for sheriff’s office, attorneys say
- Jail death initially withheld by Charleston sheriff's office had been natural, autopsy shows