A 40-year-old inmate died after being found with multiple stab wounds inside his cell at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville over the weekend, and initial reports did not identify a suspect. Justin Henderson was discovered unresponsive at approximately 9:35 p.m. last Saturday and was pronounced dead at a local hospital just over an hour later, at 11:07 p.m.
According to WPDE, Lee County Coroner Larry Logan identified Henderson as the inmate killed and said he appeared to have been stabbed several times. An autopsy is being conducted to determine the exact cause and manner of death, and the coroner's office has not released details on what led to the attack. The South Carolina Department of Corrections has not identified another inmate as a suspect, and the agency said it was not releasing additional information at the time.
The homicide investigation is being led by the South Carolina Department of Corrections Inspector General's Office and the Lee County Coroner's Office, with forensic assistance from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's Crime Scene Division, as reported by The Sumter Item. The investigation remains ongoing, and no timeline has been given for when the state might determine what triggered the fatal attack.
A Facility With a Troubled Recent History
Henderson's death is the latest in a string of fatal incidents at Lee Correctional. The prison has a history of violent incidents, including those described below.
Contraband weapons and cellmate violence have also been persistent problems at the facility. In June 2025, state prosecutors announced charges against six Lee Correctional inmates for violent offenses committed in 2024, including inmate Wiatt Xavier Woods, who was charged with murder for allegedly stabbing his cellmate, Tristan Gist, 55 times with scissors in May 2024, per the same outlet's reporting. Staff have not been spared either, although the supplied reporting does not establish details of violence involving correctional officers.
The 2018 Riot That Made National Headlines
Lee Correctional's reputation for violence extends back years. On April 15, 2018, the prison was the site of one of the bloodiest prison riots in U.S. history, when gang violence tied to contraband cell phones left seven inmates dead and 20 prisoners injured during an eight-hour uprising, according to Corrections1. The riot was followed by security improvements and a request to permit cellphone signal blocking inside South Carolina prisons.
The legal fallout from 2018 has continued for years. By late 2024, 20 of the 29 inmates indicted following the riot had been convicted and sentenced, while the state paid $6 million in June 2021 to settle 81 lawsuits filed by injured prisoners, according to Prison Legal News. Those lawsuits had alleged the state failed to protect incarcerated people inside the facility.
South Carolina's Largest Maximum-Security Prison
Opened in 1993 in Bishopville, Lee Correctional Institution is one of the largest of South Carolina's nine maximum-security prisons for men. The facility's maximum capacity and perimeter-monitoring details were not specified. The South Carolina Department of Corrections oversees state correctional facilities statewide.
The broader statewide context remains unclear: the available materials do not establish a mortality rate, a national comparison, or the number and period of deaths examined in any study.
For now, key questions about Henderson's death remain unanswered: whether his killer was a cellmate, how a weapon made it into the secure unit, and whether staffing levels played any role in the response. The South Carolina Department of Corrections has not said what, if any, corrective measures it has taken at Lee Correctional following the recent string of fatal incidents.
