Three inmates overdose after pills brought into York County Detention Center, others facing charges, authorities say

YORK COUNTY, S.C. (WBTV) – An investigation continues after three inmates overdosed in one housing unit at the York County Detention Center, authorities say.

According to the York County Sheriff’s Office, the three inmates were found unresponsive in their cells between 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 and 12:15 a.m. on Sept. 8.

Narcan was administered to the inmates and all were taken to the hospital for further assessment and care, law enforcement said.

Investigators said information was given to prison staff on Sept. 6 about possible pills being distributed in a specific housing unit.

Detention center employees then conducted a search of the housing unit and found 25-year-old inmate Tyquan Rodriguez Green, of Charlotte, attempting to dispose of 95 pressed fentanyl pills in a toilet, according to the sheriff’s office.

Staff was able to retrieve the pills before they were flushed and Green was charged with possession with intent to distribute a schedule II narcotic and possession of contraband, a news release stated.

During a Sept. 7 follow-up search, authorities said inmates Keon Arquis Davis and Tyler Mitchell Fesperman, both 27 and from Rock Hill, were found with approximately 40 pills. Both were charged with possession with intent to distribute a schedule II narcotic and possession of contraband.

According to law enforcement, one of the inmates who overdosed, 29-year-old Jacob Dwayne Hall, of Clover, had 24 pills in his possession. He was charged with possession with intent to distribute a schedule II narcotic and possession of contraband.

Hall’s cellmate, 30-year-old Leroy Westberry III, of Rock Hill, also faces the same charges, authorities said.

The two other inmates who overdosed did not have pills in their possession and were not criminally charged, according to the sheriff’s office.

“It is clearly disturbing as to how these pills were brought into the facility, and even more so the life-threatening risk that the inmates posed on themselves by taking such a dangerous narcotic,” said Sheriff Kevin Tolson.

Following the overdoses, another search of the housing unit was conducted and no additional pills or contraband were found, authorities said.

“We are searching the entire facility and all inmates for any further pills,” Tolson said. “This is the first time that this large of an amount of contraband has made it past our stringent security screenings, and we will work to prevent something like this to happen again.”

Investigators said it is unclear how Green, who has been in custody at the York County Detention Center since Aug. 25, brought the pills into the facility.

According to the sheriff’s office, the pills were not discovered or seen during the physical and body scanner searches at the time of the arrest and booking.