SLED: Detention deputy remotely unlocked cell doors to allow assault

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Officials with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division released the arrest warrant they used to charge a Charleston County detention deputy.

Detention Deputy Shannon Burden was fired on Thursday by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office and arrested by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Burden, 38, of Holly Hill, is facing a charge of misconduct in office.

The sheriff’s office says an inmate reported to staff at the Al Cannon Detention Center on Tuesday that he had been assaulted by other inmates the previous day.

Burden remotely unlocked cell doors and allowed four inmates to enter his cell and assault him, according to the arrest warrant. The victim was then punched and kicked by the other inmates; when he tried to leave, he was forced back inside, the warrant states.

Investigators with SLED said Burden admitted to intentionally unlocking the cell doors and standing by as the inmates entered the cell. They also say she closed the victim’s cell so that he could not leave and escape the assault.

Burden told agents the victim had upset her earlier in the shift and she wanted the inmates to get him to behave.

She was booked in the Al Cannon Detention Center and posted bond for $10,000.

The case will be prosecuted by the 9th Judicial Circuit Court.

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