A jury in Lee County Circuit Court convicted 30-year-old Larry White on Thursday, September 24, 2026, for taking part in the fatal stabbings of three men during the 2018 riot at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville. Circuit Judge Ferrell Cothran Jr. sentenced White to life in prison without the possibility of parole on three counts of assault and battery in the first degree by a mob resulting in death.
White's trial began Sept. 21 in Lee County Circuit Court, and according to the Post and Courier, he admitted on the witness stand that he took part in stabbings that killed Raymond Scott, 28, Corey Scott, 38, and Joshua Jenkins, 33. Twenty-nine men in total were indicted on charges connected to the same riot, the outlet reported.
How the Bishopville Riot Erupted
The riot at Lee Correctional Institution unfolded on April 15, 2018, and left seven inmates dead in what became the nation's deadliest prison riot in nearly 25 years, per The State. The violence began when Damonte Rivera and another inmate attacked and killed Michael Milledge, and Rivera was then killed in retaliation, the same report on the case's earliest days notes. The retaliatory bloodshed spread across three housing units and lasted about eight hours before it was brought under control.
Along with Milledge and Rivera, the riot claimed the lives of Cornelius McClary, Eddie Gaskins, 32, Joshua Jenkins, Raymond Scott and Corey Scott, the report states. Accounts of how many people were hurt vary: the same article describes dozens wounded, while The State put the injury count at 22 and WACH reported more than 20 injured.
Gangs, Dormitories and a Costly Aftermath
Officials have said the riot involved three rival inmate gangs and centered on dormitories F-1, F-3 and F-5 inside the maximum-security prison, according to the Greenville News. That outlet also reported that state officials spent more than $500,000 installing cellphone-blocking technology at the prison in the riot's wake. South Carolina separately paid $6 million to settle 81 riot-related lawsuits, the earlier Post and Courier report notes.
The case against White is one of many that have wound through South Carolina courts in the years since the riot. Michael Juan “Flame” Smith was charged in 2020 in connection with the violence.
Conflicting Counts on Who Was Charged
How many people were ultimately swept into the legal fallout from the riot remains murky across different accounts. One report described 29 men in total being indicted in 2020, while WACH separately reported that 47 people were facing charges connected to the riot. The discrepancies underscore just how sprawling the prosecutions tied to that single night of violence became, even as individual cases like White's continue to reach verdicts eight years later.
