After $6M death settlement, Horry County says policies changed; it just won’t say how
Three mental health patients died in Horry County Sheriff’s Office vans in about a year. After settling a multi-million dollar lawsuit with the family of one of the deceased, Horry County says changes have been made — but won’t elaborate.
On Sept. 18, 2018, Nicolette Green and Wendy Newton drowned in a caged compartment in the back of a sheriff’s van after deputies drove the vehicle through Hurricane Florence floodwaters, despite a supervisor’s orders.
Green and Newton were being transported from a Conway hospital to mental health facilities in Marion County. They had not been accused of any crimes.
This week, Horry County agreed to pay more than $6 million to Linda Green — Nicolette Green’s sister — who represents the deceased woman’s estate. There is a federal lawsuit pending against the Horry County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Phillip Thompson, Sgt. Elizabeth Orlando and the two former deputies — Stephen Flood and Joshua Bishop — who drove the van in which Green and Newton drowned.
Last week, an Horry County judge ordered American Aluminum Accessories to pay $1 million to Linda Green. American Aluminum Accessories, Inc. is the manufacturer of the caged compartment installed in the back of the sheriff’s deputy van.
Horry County released a statement earlier this week offering condolences to the Green and Newton families. The statement promised that procedural changes had “been implemented to better protect the safety of mental health patients in Horry County.”
When asked to what procedural changes the statement referred, Horry County spokesperson Kelly Moore declined to state specifics. “We aren’t going to provide any further comment beyond the statement at this point,” Moore wrote in a text message to The Sun News on Tuesday.
The Sun News sent a Freedom of Information Act open records request to Horry County on Wednesday. The FOIA request is for the Horry County Sheriff’s Office policies on dealing with mental health patients and protective custody procedures.
Wednesday, The Sun News asked Moore for comment once again. She declined.
Lawsuits criticize mental health protection for inmates
Almost exactly a year after Newton and Green drowned, another mental health patient died in the back of an Horry County Sheriff’s Office van. This time, a man fatally injured himself with a seatbelt while being taken back to jail from a hospital.
Sept. 21, 2019, after spending a month in jail, Abed Michael Naqshabandi, jumped off the second floor of J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
Naqshabandi, 28, suffered from a mental illness and had made comments about hurting himself while in jail. He was supposed to be placed under mental health precautions, according to a lawsuit filed by Naqshabandi’s mother last month.
He was taken to Conway Medical Center to be treated for his injuries. The lawsuit alleges that medical staff failed to properly care for Naqshabandi’s mental health issues before discharging him that same day.
Naqshabandi would not survive the car ride back to the jail. He hanged himself with a seat belt in an Horry County Sheriff’s van under the supervision of two officers.
In April 2020, Lisa Flaherty-Ortega, Naqshabandi’s mother, filed a lawsuit alleging that the Horry County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the death of her son by failing to protect him while he was in custody. A second filing was made — a notice of medical malpractice against the doctor who treated him at the hospital. In South Carolina, a notice must be filed weeks before an actual lawsuit.
How the law is handling the Hurricane Florence drownings
Progress has been slow in the aftermath of the September 2018 tragedy.
The two deputies who violated a supervisor’s orders by driving around a barricade into floodwaters — a decision that cost Newton and Green their lives — were fired from the Horry County Sheriff’s Office about a month after the drownings and charged criminally. Flood, who was driving the sheriff’s van, is charged with two counts of reckless homicide and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Bishop, who was also in the van, is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
There is not a court date set for the trials of Flood and Bishop, Twelfth Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements told The Sun News on Wednesday.
More than two years ago, South Carolina lawmakers began drafting legislation requiring designated “therapeutic” members of law enforcement, trained in crisis intervention to transport mental health patients. The proposed legislation would also require physicians to inform family and friends that they have the option to transport mental health patients themselves.
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 2:48 PM with the headline "After $6M death settlement, Horry County says policies changed; it just won’t say how."
