Richland County

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating two South Carolina jails for possible civil rights violations following a string of deaths in Charleston and Richland Counties.

The special election to fill the unexpired term of the late Sen. John Scott's District 19 Richland County seat was held Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.

A special election to fill the S.C. Senate seat previously held by the late Sen. John Scott will be Jan. 2, 2024.

Most South Carolinians are no strangers to change and growth in their areas, a natural process for most any place with plans to expand. But, in recent years, a developing trend permeating the Midlands has been giving its longtime residents a particularly harsh headache. It’s undergoing growth at a far faster rate than it’s used to.

A detainee's body was found dead about 18 hours after five men beat him in a South Carolina jail where the sheriff said many cell doors don't lock — the latest troubling incident in a detention center described as a “death trap” by the lawyer for a different man found dead last year with fresh rat bites on his body.

Sheriff Leon Lott estimates 50 adults and children have lived at a makeshift encampment in a patch of woods, in 'atrocious' conditions. Lott says the ouster was an effort to get residents to services.

A federal lawsuit alleges that unsanitary conditions and staff negligence caused the death of a 27-year-old man detained in a South Carolina jail. Police arrested Lason Butler on Jan. 31 on charges of reckless driving, failure to stop for blue lights and driving with a suspended license. The lawsuit filed Wednesday says that he was found dead on Feb. 12 with fresh rat bites and no running water. An autopsy report found that Butler died of dehydration. The lawsuit alleges that jail staff failed to provide "sanitary conditions, appropriate health care, and relief from solitary confinement."

A sheriff's department n South Carolina has released more body camera footage of the fatal shooting of a man who lunged at officers with a piece of wood. The family called for both the release of the videos and an independent investigation because the Richland County Sheriff's Department said it will investigate the shooting itself. The new video starts with Irvin D. Moorer Charley's mother demanding a deputy get her son out of her house Saturday, but Connie Craig's tone changes immediately when her son comes out of the home with a piece of wood that a deputy calls a knife. She then begs the officer to not hit her son.

In 2018, eight police officers with the City of Columbia were trained in crisis intervention. The interfaith organization MORE Justice credits their work in getting that number close to 200. This April, the group will ask local leaders to act on solving the area's affordable housing and gun violence issues.

A sheriff's department in South Carolina has released dashboard camera footage of a deputy killing a Black man who approached officers with a wooden stake. The man's family said the man was moving slowly at the officers and shooting him was not justified. The footage shows Irvin D. Moorer Charley being shot with a stun gun with no apparent affect. He then runs at an officer as the deputy fires seven times . A representative for Moorer Charley's family called on the Richland County Sheriff's Department to release all videos, saying they show he wasn't a threat. The sheriff said the officers were protecting themselves from potentially deadly violence.