New lawsuit accuses negligent staff of allowing drugs into Georgetown prison | News

GEORGETOWN – The family of a woman who fatally overdosed at the Georgetown County Detention Center filed a lawsuit this month against the jail and sheriff's office, accusing them of failing to properly screen inmates for deadly drugs such as heroin and fentanyl.

Kenneth Ashby, the personal representative of Shelby Ashby's estate, claims that systematic errors at the county jail resulted in Shelby Ashby being exposed to illegal drugs during her stay there.

“Had the defendants properly followed their training, policies and procedures, the contraband likely would not have been allowed into the facility,” the Aug. 20 lawsuit states. “In addition, had the defendants conducted proper security checks and monitored the decedent (according to protocol), she likely would have been rescued.”

A Georgetown County spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, but the county does not typically discuss pending litigation.

Shelby Ashby, 24, and another inmate were found unconscious on March 15, authorities said. She was pronounced dead four days later at Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital.

The sheriff's office said Shelby Ashby obtained illegal drugs from Kelly Lambert, another inmate who was serving a sentence for a traffic violation on weekends.

“The drug was brought in from the street by Ms. Lambert and simply placed on the booking counter. Ms. Lambert was able and permitted to pick up the candy wrappers and plain papers containing the drugs and return them to the inmates,” the sheriff's office said in a press release after the incident.

After Shelby Ashby's death, Sheriff Carter Weaver transferred the jail warden and fired the booking officer.

However, the lawsuit alleges that a lack of staff oversight allowed drugs to enter the prison “unhindered.”

On the day of the overdoses, Lambert was admitted to prison around 6 p.m. The new lawsuit alleges that Shelby Ashby and Lambert were not checked by prison staff for at least two hours, even though security checks are supposed to take place every 30 minutes.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m., a prison officer was informed by two female inmates that something was wrong in Block C, the lawsuit states.

The officer learned that another inmate, Alecia Childers, had ingested an unknown substance and was now unconscious on the floor of her cell. Jail and medical staff responded. Childers ultimately survived.

When emergency services arrived for Childers around 8:45 p.m., the officer learned that Shelby Ashby also needed to be examined because “she had locked herself in her cell and did not look well,” the lawsuit states. Although the officer noted that Shelby Ashby had a purple complexion and appeared to be in distress, he left her cell and did not render aid, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiff claims jail staff should have called 911 and arranged for Shelby Ashby to be taken to a hospital immediately. Instead, the officer told the nurse she needed to be examined and the nurse told another officer to keep an eye on her, the lawsuit says.

An officer documented that he spoke to her, “but he knowingly failed to adequately monitor her to prevent her from taking or ingesting drugs. Nor did he notice that her condition was obviously deteriorating rapidly,” the lawsuit states.

When the officer returned to C Block at 9:09 p.m., he found Shelby Ashby unconscious on the floor of her cell, the lawsuit says. When a nurse arrived, she could no longer find a pulse.

Emergency medical services arrived around 9:15 p.m. and took Shelby Ashby to the hospital, the lawsuit states. She was pronounced brain dead and died at 1:42 p.m. on March 19.

Kenneth Ashby has accused the defendants of failing to provide the necessary protection, care and medical attention to the detention center's inmates. He accuses them of failing to adequately train, supervise and monitor their staff to ensure the safety of the inmates and of failing to implement appropriate policies and protocols to ensure the safety of the inmates, the lawsuit states.

He is demanding unspecified damages. His lawyer, Carter Elliott Jr., could not be reached for comment.

Shelby Ashby was charged with aiding and abetting murder. Her case revolved around the death of Harry Barkley, a 35-year-old Kingstree man who disappeared in August 2020. In May 2021, Barkley's remains were found in a remote wooded area in Williamsburg County.

Authorities said Shelby Ashby was charged with helping Eric Hempel move Barkley's body after his death. Less than a month after her death, Hempel was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the Barkley case. He was originally charged with murder, but the charge was later downgraded to accessory after the fact.

Hempel entered an Alford plea, meaning he admitted no guilt but acknowledged that a jury could convict based on the evidence.