Here is what the family of a man who died after riding in an Horry Sheriff van had to say
The family of a man who reportedly killed himself in the back of an Horry County Sheriff’s van said they were not notified for hours after he was found unresponsive.
Deputies found A. Michael Naqshabandi unresponsive in an Horry County Sheriff’s Office van on Saturday as he was on the way to J. Reuben Long Detention Center from Conway Medical Center. Sheriff’s officials said he was being treated for a heel injury. He had been held in J. Reuben Long for about three weeks, unable to post a nearly $2,000 bond.
Officials initially took him back to CMC but later transported him to Grand Strand Medical Center, where he died Monday morning, officials said.
In a Friday statement, released by a law firm representing the family, Naqshabandi’s family said he needed care because of an earlier suicide attempt.
“It is a horrible thought to consider that this young man died within feet of the people there to supervise him,” Michael’s grandfather, Richard Flaherty, said in the statement.
Naqshabandi initially was arrested by Myrtle Beach police weeks before his death on charges of shoplifting and possession of a controlled substance.
“Although Michael struggled with mental illness, he was a generous, intelligent, caring, charming soul who loved to tease, make music, laugh, fish, and whose energy would light up faces and rooms with joy,” his mother, Lisa Flaherty-Ortega, said in the statement. “He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. … We know that Michael is at peace now and we want to prevent this from happening to other families, to have other loved ones experience this anguish.”
The family noted that Naqshabandi is the third mental health patient to die in an Horry County Sheriff’s van in roughly the past year. In September 2018, two mental health patients being transported by deputies drowned in the back of a van that was swept off the road by floodwaters.
“It is incomprehensible that yet another mentally ill patient has died in the back of a Horry County Sheriff’s transport vehicle,” Lawyer James B. Moore III said in the statement. “Providing basic supervision to those under police custody is a Constitutional right, not a luxury. I trust that Horry County Sheriff’s Department can do better than this.”
Naqshanbandi is the sixth person to die in Horry County Sheriff’s Office custody in the last two years.
During the 25-minute transport, Naqshabandi wrapped a seat belt around his neck and was found unresponsive, said Horry County Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard. An autopsy Tuesday confirmed Naqshabandi died from self-inflicted asphyxiation due to ligature compression, Willard said.
The Horry County Sheriff’s Office stated there was no foul play suspected in the death. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating Naqshabandi’s death.
Attorney Scott C. Evans said in the statement, “We are anxious to find out how this was allowed to happen again. We are hopeful that SLED will be able to conclude its investigation quickly so that Mr. Naqshabandi’s family can begin to have answers to some of their many questions.”
The family said they have asked for the video from inside the transport van, but have been denied access.
The family requested the state’s Attorney General’s Office investigate SLED’s finding because of the relationship between the Horry County Sheriff’s Office and the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office. The office typically decides whether to bring criminal charges against police officers.
This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 4:49 PM.
