At about 5:30 a.m. on March 30, 24-year-old Salem resident Michael Calvin McMahan was found unresponsive inside of his cell by staff members at the Oconee County Detention Center, Coroner Karl Addis said in a news release.
EMS responded to the jail, but resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and McMahan died at the scene at 6:21 a.m., according to the release.
An autopsy was performed April 1 and showed that McMahan died from a blunt force head injury, “consistent with being assaulted by someone,” the coroner’s office said.
McMahan’s manner of death was determined to be a homicide, according to the coroner’s office.
No arrests have been reported, and McMahan’s death is being investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
There was no word on a motive for the deadly attack.
McMahan was being held at the jail on a drug possession charge from a March 27 arrest, Oconee County court records show.
McMahan was out on bond from a June 2023 arrest when he was taken into custody on the most recent charge, according to court records. In 2023, McMahan was charged with burglary and petit larceny, and posted $12,205 bond on those combined charges, court records show.