Inmate killed in SC prison, and his death is believed to be a homicide, officials say
An inmate died at a South Carolina prison Tuesday, and his death is being investigated as a suspected homicide, according to the the state Department of Corrections.
Idris Wasim Ballard-Gallardo, 23, died at Lee Correctional Institution, the S.C. Department of Corrections said in a news release. That’s the same prison where seven inmates were killed and 17 more were injured during a violent incident in 2018.
Ballard-Gallardo was stabbed while he was in a common area of his assigned housing unit at the prison in Bishopville, according to the release.
He was pronounced dead shortly after 10 a.m., the S.C. Department of Corrections said.
An autopsy will be performed, according to the release.
Information about any possible arrests was not included in the release, and there was no word on a motive for the stabbing.
The death is being investigated by the S.C. Department of Corrections Inspector General’s office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Lee County Coroner’s Office.
In 2023, Ballard-Gallardo was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge, Greenwood County court records show. Ballard-Gallardo was originally charged with murder when he was arrested in June 2020, according to court records.
Lee Correctional is a men’s-only, split-custody prison that houses inmates in “close” (high-security) and “medium security” facilities, according to the Department of Corrections. Like other close prisons in South Carolina, Lee is “designed primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences, and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems,” the Department of Corrections said.
The prison is in Bishopville, about 50 miles east of Columbia.
