Death Row’s Longest-Serving Inmate in South Carolina Passes Away After 42 Years Behind Bars

An 81-year-old inmate, recognized as South Carolina’s longest-serving death row resident, died of natural causes this week, according to prison officials.

Fred Singleton passed away on Monday at the infirmary of Kirkland Correctional Institution. The South Carolina Department of Corrections confirmed the news on Friday. Singleton faced a death sentence in 1983 after being convicted of raping and strangling a woman, Elizabeth Lominick, in Newberry County. He also stole her jewelry during the crime, details from court records reveal.

For the last three decades, Singleton lived in a state of legal uncertainty. The South Carolina Supreme Court determined that he was not competent to be executed because he did not understand the implications of his sentence. Reports indicated he only responded to his attorneys with simple