CHARLESTON CO., S.C. (WCBD) – A grieving mother is still asking, “why?” over a year after her son died in the Al Cannon Detention Center. “Everybody’s sad and sitting around—he would be the one that just makes everybody laugh and makes people dance who never danced before,” Lois Taylor told News 2. Taylor is coming […]
CHARLESTON CO., S.C. (WCBD) – A grieving mother is still asking, “why?” over a year after her son died in the Al Cannon Detention Center.
“Everybody’s sad and sitting around—he would be the one that just makes everybody laugh and makes people dance who never danced before,” Lois Taylor told News 2.
Taylor is coming up on her second holiday season without her son, Julian Jenkins.
“As a matter of fact, his birthday is this month on the 24th,” Taylor shared.
Instead of celebrating what would have been his 52nd birthday in a few weeks, Taylor is now in search of answers regarding Jenkins’ March 2023 death at the jail.
“I’m just trying to understand how my child is dead within less than a week,” Taylor said.
Jenkins was booked into the Al Cannon Detention Center on March 8, 2023, in connection to a shoplifting charge. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office announced his death a few days later on March 14.
According to Taylor, her son suffered from kidney failure and was on dialysis multiple times a week. She told News 2 she learned through lawyers that doctors recommended Jenkins be moved from the jail to a hospital which never happened.
“I know he didn’t get the treatment he should have. I know they didn’t pay him any attention because if they had, he would’ve been taken to a hospital like the doctors were telling them, but nobody listened to him,” Taylor added.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was tasked with investigating Jenkins death, before the U.S. Justice Department opened a Civil Rights investigation at the request of county leaders.
Both investigations are ongoing.
“…and I think somebody owes me some answers as to why my son died without medical treatment the way he was supposed to get it,” Taylor said to News 2.
News 2 reached out CCSO’s public information officer who said in part:
“…we would like to point out that with our detention center staff there has never been an instance where we are not able to accommodate medical decisions from our provider.”
They referred News 2 to “Wellpath, the provider at that time, for additional questions regarding any medical claims.”