2 inmates charged in killing 4 in SC prison

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C.

Two convicts each serving a life sentence for killing a mother and her child have been charged with murder in the strangulation deaths of four inmates inside a South Carolina prison.

Denver Simmons and Jacob Philip lured each of the four inmates into a cell at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia on Friday morning, then worked together to attack and choke them, according to arrest warrants released Saturday.

Two of the inmates were also beaten or stabbed with a broken broomstick, according to the warrants released by State Law Enforcement Division agents.

The attacks took place within 30 minutes, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said in a statement.

One inmate was choked with an electrical cord, while another had his chest pressed down while he was being strangled. The cause of death for the other two inmates was also strangulation, Watts said.

The warrants gave no reason for the attacks. They did say there is video of the killings, and the men confessed to investigators.

The Corrections Department will conduct an internal investigation into the killings after the criminal investigation is finished, Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Because of the ongoing investigation, Stirling would not talk about whether prison policies were broken or how the inmates came to be together.

Prison records show the four inmates killed were considered minimum security risks.