Died in prison
Ricky Cooper
Ricky Cooper, 49, died in November 2011 at McCormick Correctional Institution in McCormick County, South Carolina, where he was being held. A State Law Enforcement Division warrant said he was strangled and that his cellmate had been charged with murder. A 2018 Post and Courier report described him as stabbed to death by another prisoner in a shower-room attack, so the accounts of how he died conflict. SLED declined to comment on the death.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed). A State Law Enforcement Division warrant says another prisoner strangled him, while an earlier account says he was stabbed.
Reported by: State Law Enforcement Division (outside investigators); news reports.