With nearly as many people locked in cells as in a Georgia prison, the Charles B. Webster Detention Center can be a dangerous place.
But unlike prison inmates, those locked in the Richmond County jail have not been convinced of crimes, only accused.
People accused of crimes as minor as traffic offenses to the most serious possible are housed together in the facility on Phinizy Road. In December, a sweep of the cells uncovered a huge stash of homemade weapons, as wells as drugs and other contraband smuggled inside.
The arrests of several deputy jailers and the confiscation of contraband hasn’t stopped the violence. People in the jail have set fires, caused constant problems for deputy jailers which racks up additional charges, and attacked each other.
Sheriff Richard Roundtree declined to discuss the problems at the jail.
On May 16, a man housed at the jail was outside his cell with permission when Daieshawn D. Lanham, 18, was released into the same area. Lanham is accused of attacking the other man, stabbing him five time in the back of his head, face and neck, according to an incident report.
The attack was captured on jail security video, but the blade used in the attack was not found. It wasn’t the first time Lanham had a weapon in jail. He was found with a shank in February.
The violence isn’t the only issue at the jail that regularly houses more than 1,000 men and women.
On May 23 a man suspected of taking part in the daytime slaying of two men in a Harrisburg barbershop was mistakenly released from jail. The public wasn’t informed that Cortez Berry, 25, was on the loose, and its not clear if the mistake was even realized for a week. Berry was arrested again May 31.
In response to inquiries about Berry’s release from jail, Roundtree issued a statement saying there would be an investigation into how Berry was released, and steps would be taken to ensure it didn’t happen again.
It wasn’t the first recent mistaken release of someone from the jail. One of the men who has been indicted on murder and other charges in the January shooting of children in Dogwood Terrance, including the killing of 8-year-old Arbrie Anthony, was mistakenly released from jail.
Henri Beach, 20, and several others, all accused of being members of the Loyalty Over Everything gang, were arrested Dec. 5 on drugs and weapons charges. A Richmond County Sheriff investigator would later testify Beach was mistakenly released from jail after that arrest. While he was out, he signed an affidavit for the lawyer representing an alleged LOE leader that he was arrested with Dec. 5 claiming ownership of the drugs and guns.
Just weeks later, a drive-by shooting on Jan. 6 left two children wounded. On Jan. 8 Arbrie was fatally shot in the head in another drive-by shooting. Beach was arrested against Jan. 12.
Other men who law enforcement believe are members of the LOE gang have been at the center of investigations and prosecutions of deputy jailers suspected of smuggling contraband into the jail.
Since January, 30, people held at the jail have been indicted on charges of being inmates in possession of contraband.
At least two of the deputy jailers fired and now under indictment for allegedly bringing contraband into the jail also face illegal gang activity charges.
Another man held at the jail was allegedly a victim of LOE gang members, according to his attorney. He was beaten and stabbed in the jail not long he was arrested on Sept. 1.
In arguing for his release on bond in March, the attorney told the judge that he was not safe in jail. The judge granted bond in his case.
No one was charged in that attack. Lanham, the man accused of the May 16 stabbing, has been charged with aggravated assault and possession of a deadly weapon by an inmate. Lanham is also charged in an unrelated incident at the jail for allegedly breaking a glass door in April.
