Months after he died in clash with Beaufort deputies, cause of man’s death a mystery

For some in the Beaufort County community where Trey Pringle lived and died, the monthslong investigation into his death after he was shocked with a Taser by Sheriff’s Office deputies comes as no surprise.

Pringle, 24, was stunned three times and restrained after deputies, firefighters and paramedics responded to his home Feb. 17 in the Seabrook community. Family members had called 911, saying Pringle was “out of control,” hurt and needed help.

Three days later, he died of cardiac arrest at Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

“They are going to drag it as slow as a shrimp boat,” Tyrone Murray, a lifelong resident of the area, said Wednesday of the drawn-out investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. “They don’t want to be tarnished.”

The Sheriff’s Office also is conducting an internal investigation into the incident. Sheriff P.J. Tanner has declined to release the names of the officers involved in the incident, but has said he will do so once the SLED investigation is complete.

Information from the coroner’s report, which would provide a cause of death, also has not been released nearly five months after the incident.

“If it was me and another common man, we would already know,” Murray said. “Once you are dead, you are dead. It raises red flags.”

The close-knit community needs answers, said Rev. Kenneth Hodges of Tabernacle Baptist Church, who has visited the family.

“I do not sense anger,” Hodges, a former state representative, said in February. ”But I do see a sense of concern where it appears that the family did the right thing when they reached out for help and invited someone to come in because it was a situation that they felt they were not qualified at handling. And then, as a result of help arriving, a person somehow lost his life.”

The community is a small one.

A trip to the neighborhood Shell station isn’t simply a matter of filling your tank and leaving. It’s an opportunity to converse with a neighbor, a friend, a family member or classmate. Many living here have done so for generations. It’s the sort of place where if you don’t know someone, you’ll likely know someone in their family, one passerby said.

At the gas station Wednesday, former resident Tommy Washington pointed to different properties as he rattled off who owned what land, an oral history that covered decades.

“Right over there is my family’s cemetery,” Washington said. “It goes back to 1879.”

There are a many people lying in that cemetery who shouldn’t be, he said.

“If you think you are safe in your home, school, your car — you are a liar,” Washington said.

“This is my home,” he said, but one he was forced to leave as a young man in order to succeed in life.

“I knew as a kid growing up that I wouldn’t make it here.”

So he left the outh and moved first to New York and then to Philadelphia, where he now lives.

Last week, he was back for a brief visit.

He has followed the Pringle story from the beginning.

“When I look at him — he has been in some s---,” Washington said, “But he didn’t deserve to die.”

That feeling is based on generations of what he sees as repression, Washington said.

“Do I trust the cops — yes, I do,” he said. “Do I trust all of them — No, I don’t.”

An attorney for Pringle’s mother said earlier this month that while the family is frustrated with the lack of information and the slow pace of the investigation, they are not “jumping to conclusions”.

Attorney Shannon M. Chandler did not respond to two phone calls to her office and two emails seeking comment last week. A secretary said she was out of the office for the week.

What the police report says

On the night of his encounter with police, Pringle was found bleeding “everywhere” and sitting next to a broken television at his home on Detour Road.

His family had called 911. Sheriff’s deputies, the Burton Hill Fire District and Beaufort County Emergency Medical Services were sent to the house.

Pringle was combative and refused to allow anyone to treat his injuries, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

EMS told deputies that Pringle had a history of mental health and other medical issues and needed to be transported to a hospital because of blood loss.

Pringle struck a deputy in the face multiple times and kicked him in the knee as the officer tried to handcuff him, the police report said. He also struck a second deputy.

Pringle was stunned with a Taser the first time as he left the room, the report said.

He was shocked a second time as he swung a piece of broken glass as a weapon.

Pringle continued to struggle and was shocked a third time.

Deputies employed the “drive stun” method, in which the Taser is placed directly against the skin, in this case against the back of Pringle’s leg, the report said.

A firefighter helped to hold Pringle as he continued to struggle after being handcuffed, the report said.

Pringle went into cardiac arrest as medical personnel began to treat him.

He was given CPR and transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

He died there on Feb. 20.

Coroner’s report remains under wraps?

SLED spokesman Thom Berry said Tuesday the agency had no information to release on the investigation.

“While our work is underway, it would be inappropriate to publicly discuss any specific details of the case,” Berry wrote in an email.

When asked about the coroner’s report, Berry said that information could be released by the Beaufort County coroner.

When contacted Tuesday by the newspapers, Beaufort County Coroner Ed Allen said he couldn’t release his report because of the ongoing SLED investigation.

When told SLED said it could be released, he said he would call the agency.

In a second interview, Berry said he was uncertain if the coroner’s report could be released. He said he would check and get back with a reporter.

On Wednesday, during a third interview, Berry was asked multiple times if SLED had asked the coroner to not release the report.

“Our work in this case is continuing and still underway,” Berry repeated each time he was asked. “It would be inappropriate for us to discuss any specific details while it is underway.”

When asked to give a yes or no answer on the release of the coroner’s report, he repeated the response a fourth time.

Allen also was contacted again Wednesday.

He again said he could not release the report because of the ongoing SLED investigation.

Who are the deputies?

Berry was also asked about the identities of the deputies involved.

He said the decision to name them was Tanner’s to make.

From the beginning, Tanner has maintained that SLED has told the office not to release such information until the investigation is complete.

The sheriff reiterated that stance on Thursday.

“I’m not going to discuss the reports until it (the SLED investigation) is filed,” Tanner said. “I understand that the time this investigation is taking could be concerning to members of the community. This is a very thorough investigation and it has been ongoing since day one.”

Tanner said it is possible the SLED investigation could be released as early as this week.

“SLED is basically finished with their interviews and trying to get it to the solicitor’s office for review,” Tanner said.

Berry also noted that SLED is working with the Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office on the case.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the solicitor’s office said it was unable to release any information, including the coroner’s report.

Once the investigation is complete, Tanner said, he will hold a news conference. After a two-hour break, to allow reporters and the public to review it, a second news conference will be held to answer questions the report raises, he said.

Tanner said he has not reached out to the community since the incident, saying it would be difficult to answer any questions before the investigation is complete.

“We will attend any community meetings that the community asks us to after this investigation has been completed and there is a full understanding of this case,” Tanner said.

A community waits

Christine Hall went to high school with Trey Pringle.

She remembers him as a joker with the prettiest eyes at the school.

“He was all about his family,” Hall said.

Those memories are what she tries to focus on rather that the circumstances surrounding Pringle’s demise.

She said the community already has seen too much death.

“We already have killing and killing and killing and this (one) is the police.”

Murray said there is an easier way to handle situations like the one that claimed Pringle’s life.

“All we have to do is talk,” Murray said.

This story was originally published July 13, 2018 at 1:16 PM.