Horry County owes public answers following three deaths

Horry County says it has changed the way it handles incidents involving mentally ill patients in its care.

The key word being says.

Three people have died, and taxpayers will foot the bill for a $6 million settlement, and still Horry County doesn’t think how it treats mentally ill residents is any of your business.

When The Sun News asked what changes were made, Horry County spokesperson Kelly Moore wouldn’t say.

Horry County did release a statement earlier this week offering condolences to the surviving families promising that changes had “been implemented to better protect the safety of mental health patients in Horry County.”

However, the county still refuses to offer any details of those changes, and it’s the details that would actually bring some comfort to the mentally ill and their families.

We left messages for County Attorney Arrigo Carotti and County Administrator Steve Gosnell asking about the recent settlement.

Neither Cariotti or Gosnell returned our calls.

Instead, Moore replied via email, “The County does not plan to provide any additional commentary outside of the statement already released on this matter.”

Apparently, the vague statement issued by the county is all we are going to get.

Time and again the public agencies our tax dollars support refuse to be open and transparent about their dealings.

In September 2018, Nicolette Green and Wendy Newton needed help.

The two women were being taken to mental health facilities in Marion County to receive treatment for their mental illness. They never made it.

Instead, the women drowned in a caged compartment in the back of a sheriff’s van because two deputies chose to ignore common sense, and their supervisor’s orders, and drove through Hurricane Florence’s floodwater.

The two deputies were fired from the Horry County Sheriff’s Office about a month after the drownings and now face criminal charges.

A year later, another mental health patient, Abed Michael Naqshabandi, jumped off the second floor of J. Reuben Long Detention Center and was treated for his injuries at a hospital before being discharged the same day.

He hanged himself with a seatbelt on the ride back to the jail.

Three lives lost and still we have no idea what the county is doing to fix the problem and protect the people it is tasked to help.

The failure to explain their policies and procedures erodes public trust and confidence, and it is simply unacceptable.

This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 1:00 PM.