The Charleston Co. sheriff has released a statement after the county’s Coroner’s Office ruled the December death of an inmate at the Al Cannon Detention Center.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County sheriff has released a statement after the county’s Coroner’s Office ruled the December death of an inmate at the Al Cannon Detention Center as a homicide.

D’Angelo Brown, 28, died on Dec. 29 at MUSC from Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli sepsis with septic shock and multiple organ system failure because of “gross medical neglect,” Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal said.

Sheriff Kristin Graziano released the following statement on the coroner’s report:

Based on the time the coroner dedicated to this case, her ruling on Mr. Brown’s death did not surprise me. [The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division] is investigating the possible criminal aspect of the case, and the Sheriff’s Office has been cooperating. Meanwhile, our own internal investigation remains underway. I have full confidence in my Detention staff that concerns over Mr. Brown’s medical treatment and his needs were documented and referrals were made.

We are continuing to work with the county through the procurement process to find a different health care provider.' - Sheriff Kristin Graziano

Despite a “well-documented” history of mental illness including diagnoses for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, court documents allege that 28-year-old D’Angelo Brown never received the treatments he needed.(Nekeya Jones)

The Journal of Medical Microbiology calls EAEC an increasingly recognized intestinal pathogen, noting that EAEC is the most recently identified and described diarrhoeagenic E. coli.

Brown had been taken to the hospital from the Al Cannon Detention Center on Dec. 21.

O’Neal said Brown’s manner of death is homicide.

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Attorney James Moore, who is representing Brown’s family in a lawsuit filed earlier this month praised the coroner’s office for having “the courage to call D’Angelo’s death exactly what it is: criminal homicide by neglect.”

“This should not be happening in a modern, civilized society,” Moore said. “We will be working with SLED and any other law enforcement agencies to ensure the wrongdoers involved are held accountable - whether it be civilly or criminally. I would encourage anyone with information about the suffering or death of D’Angelo to come forward - either to SLED or directly to me. James B. Moore III, Evans Moore Law Firm

That lawsuit alleged that Charleston County deputies continued to observe Brown’s worsening medical condition but “failed to intervene on his behalf.” The suit alleged Brown reportedly asked a detention officer four days into his time at the jail for his prescriptions, but nothing was done.

Court documents state he was found unresponsive in his cell in the Behavior Modification Unit in the early morning hours of Dec. 21, where he was then taken to MUSC and died eight days later.

Law enforcement arrested Brown in August 2022 for several charges, after they say he attempted to rob two people at a car wash at gunpoint and then entered a nearby home resulting in a confrontation with the family inside.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is the investigating agency, O’Neal said.

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office says no disciplinary action has been taken against their employees.

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Maria Milito