Woman found dead in SC jail days after getting locked up, officials say
An inmate died days after she was locked up in a South Carolina jail on an attempted murder charge, officials said.
On Sunday, Tara Tharpe Godfrey’s body was found in the bed of her jail cell at the Greenwood County Detention Center, Coroner Sonny Cox said in a news release. The jail is about 75 miles west of Columbia.
The 45-year-old Greenwood resident’s cause of death has not been determined, and an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, according to the release.
Godfrey’s death is being investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the coroner’s office.
She was arrested March 31 on multiple charges — including DUI, and open container of beer or wine in a motor vehicle — according to Greenwood County court records.
Godfrey was also charged with attempted murder, failure to stop for blue lights, and resisting arrest with assault on an officer following a confrontation with law enforcement that spilled out of the sheriff’s office to the parking lot and a car chase, according to the sheriff’s office.
Godfrey argued with a county records clerk before storming out while yelling and cursing as she repeatedly slammed her car’s door into another vehicle, according to an incident report.
Godfrey then sped off, nearly hitting an officer before stopping and putting her car in reverse and barely missed crashing into a patrol vehicle, the report said.
Godfrey then pulled forward into another patrol vehicle and was pulled from her car when she fought with officers before she was taken to an area hospital and ultimately jail, the incident report said.
In the past 20 years, Godfrey has been arrested on multiple occasions and has served time behind bars, court records show.
In September 2019, a former beauty queen who was once named Miss Greenwood died while she was an inmate at the Greenwood County Detention Center. Tracy Lee Livingston Sims, 56, died after being taken to Self Regional Healthcare, Cox said at the time.
