Escaped Hampton County inmate captured in Allendale County after weeklong search

An escaped Hampton County inmate was taken into custody in Allendale County on Monday morning, ending a search that stretched more than a week across county lines and drew in local deputies and state investigators.

Juwaan Eady, 22, was captured at about 9:30 a.m. April 13 with assistance from the Allendale County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Hampton County Sheriff Anthony Russell credited investigators and partner agencies for working to track Eady down and return him to custody. Eady is being held at the Allendale County Detention Center.

The search began Friday, April 3, when Eady escaped from the Hampton County Detention Center. During the manhunt, Hampton County officials told the public Eady was dangerous and urged residents not to approach him. That warning mattered well beyond the county where he first walked away from custody, because Allendale County residents and deputies were pulled into a regional public safety operation that depended on fast communication between agencies in two rural counties.

SLED is now leading the investigation into how the escape happened and whether lapses in detention security allowed Eady to get out. Additional charges may follow depending on what investigators uncover. Hampton County’s detention center houses sentenced and unsentenced inmates and serves multiple agencies, including local police, sheriff’s offices, state police, conservation officers and federal authorities, which helps explain why an escape from the facility can quickly become a multiagency search.

Eady’s capture also underscored how closely linked Hampton County and Allendale County are in day-to-day law enforcement work. Hampton County covers 560.0 square miles and had a 2020 Census population of 18,561, while Allendale County covers 408.1 square miles and had a 2020 Census population of 8,039. In a region that small, a fugitive can cross county lines quickly, making coordination between sheriffs’ offices and state investigators critical to public safety and public trust.