Horry SC jail negligent in allowing homeless inmate death, lawsuit says
The Horry County Sheriff’s Office was negligent and understaffed when it allowed a woman in custody to die in 2023 at J. Reuben Long Detention Center, according to a recent lawsuit filing.
Leonora Russo, 61, died Sept. 16, 2023, after being found unresponsive in her jail cell. She was arrested three days earlier by Myrtle Beach Police for public intoxication and a park ordinance violation after falling asleep in Chapin Memorial Park.
Russo struggled for years with alcohol addiction, mental illness and homelessness, the lawsuit states.
She had just been discharged from a five-day inpatient stay at Grand Strand Hospital the day she was arrested due to numerous severe health concerns, but detention center employees assigned her to general population without special monitoring despite the “alarming health screening,” according to the complaint.
Russo experienced significant symptoms of alcohol withdrawal while incarcerated and was acting so erratically that her cellmate requested to be moved, but no action was taken to ensure her safety until staff found her unresponsive in the cell, the suit states.
Brennan Cavanagh, a HCSO spokeswoman, noted that the center contacted South Carolina Law Enforcement Division immediately after the death, per policy, and an investigation found no evidence of criminal conduct.
“The safety of individuals in custody is our top priority at J. Reuben Long Detention Center and inmates have 24/7 access to medical care through a privately contracted company,” she wrote.
SLED closed its investigation into Russo’s death in February 2025 as unfounded after an autopsy indicated her cause of death as “severe hyponatremia,” a condition where the sodium level in the blood is lower than normal, according to the investigative report.
Russo’s sister, who filed the lawsuit, alleges that the detention center is “severely understaffed” due to high turnover and a failure to hire enough officers.
She is seeking a judgment against the county in excess of $1 million, the lawsuit states.
The Sun News previously highlighted Russo’s story in an article exploring the costs of criminalizing homelessness in the Myrtle Beach area. The arrest preceding her death was the 32nd time in 17 months that MBPD had arrested Russo for misdemeanor violations.
More than one of every three people arrested for misdemeanor violations in 2022 by the department was listed as homeless, according to a Sun News review of online court records. Trespassing, public intoxication and sleeping violations were among the most common charges.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
