South Carolina’s Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Dies of Natural Causes After 42 Years in Prison

The South Carolina Department of Corrections has confirmed the death of Fred Singleton, the state’s longest-serving death row inmate, who died of natural causes at the age of 81 after spending 42 years behind bars.

Singleton, sentenced to death in 1983, was convicted of raping and strangling 73-year-old widow Elizabeth Lominick in Newberry County, and stealing her jewelry. Court records show that Singleton’s fingerprints were found on a bathroom window screen at the crime scene, and that he was later arrested with Lominick’s diamond and gold rings in his pockets. Her car, which also bore his fingerprints, was discovered nearby.

Despite being sentenced to die in the electric chair, Singleton never faced execution. In 1993, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that he was mentally incompetent to be executed, as he did not understand the nature or consequences of the death penalty and could only respond to his lawyers’ questions with brief “yes” or “no” answers.

The court decided to leave his death sentence in place, reasoning that future advances in psychology might one day render him competent. However, it also ruled that Singleton could not be forcibly medicated solely for the purpose of making him eligible for execution. This left him in a legal limbo that persisted until his death.

Singleton’s case became one of the most enduring in South Carolina’s criminal justice system, symbolizing the complex intersection of mental health and capital punishment.

According to corrections officials, Singleton’s death leaves 24 inmates currently on South Carolina’s death row, a number that has steadily declined over the years. At the end of 2014, the state housed 48 death row inmates. Since then, six executions have been carried out all between 2024 and 2025 while others have been removed from death row due to overturned convictions, resentencing, or natural deaths.

The longest-serving inmate now remaining on South Carolina’s death row is Jamie Wilson, 56, who has spent 34 years awaiting execution for a 1988 school shooting in Greenwood County. Wilson killed two 8-year-old girls and injured several teachers and students. Like Singleton, Wilson has also been deemed mentally ill and remains in legal uncertainty, as his competency hearing from 2011 has yet to produce a ruling.