COLUMBIA, SC. (THECOUNT) — Shamika Danielle Cunningham, 41, an inmate at the Camille Graham Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, died Monday after she was found unresponsive inside her prison cell, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
Cunningham was found unresponsive in her cell on Sept. 26 and was later transported to a local hospital, where she died Sept. 28, SCDC said in an Oct. 1 news release. Her death is being investigated as a suspected suicide.
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SCDC said an autopsy will be performed. No official cause or manner of death has been released pending the investigation and autopsy findings.
The circumstances surrounding how Cunningham was discovered inside her cell, including whether she was alone or had a cellmate, had not been publicly detailed.
Cunningham was serving a 22-year sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2018 in connection with the death of 64-year-old Arthur Lee Turner, who died from blunt-force trauma to the head in 2016. She had originally been charged with murder in Turner’s death, according to court records and previous reporting.
Cunningham’s death is being investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Richland County Coroner’s Office and the SCDC Inspector General’s Office, according to the corrections department.
Camille Graham Correctional Institution, also known as Graham (Camille Griffin) Correctional Institution, is a women’s prison operated by the South Carolina Department of Corrections. The facility is located at 4450 Broad River Road in Columbia and is classified by SCDC as a medium-security and special-needs institution for female inmates.
The prison also serves as South Carolina’s Women’s Reception and Evaluation Center, processing female offenders entering the state correctional system. SCDC says the institution provides medical services and houses women with special needs, including inmates requiring significant medical supervision.
Cunningham’s death adds another inmate death to the SCDC’s 2026 agency records. The department’s public news archive lists the Sept. 28 death under its Oct. 1 release as a Camille Graham inmate death.
The investigation remains ongoing, and officials have not announced a final determination regarding the circumstances or cause of Cunningham’s death.
Columbia is the capital and largest city of South Carolina and is located in Richland County in the central part of the state. Camille Graham Correctional Institution is situated along Broad River Road northwest of downtown Columbia as part of the South Carolina Department of Corrections’ Broad River complex.
Google Maps: Camille Graham Correctional Institution, Columbia, SC
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