Second Inmate Charged in January Assault At Oconee Detention Center

An ongoing investigation by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office into the January 11th assault of four corrections officers at the County Detention Center has yielded charges against the second of two inmates accused in the incident.

24 year-old Tyler Wayne Smith of West Union is in jail and charged with 3rd Degree Assault and Battery by Mob, for which he has a bond set in the amount of $25,000.

He, along with 37 year-old John William Strother Evans, is accused in warrants of “orchestrating an event in Cell Block D which resulted in four guards being assaulted.” Investigators said that video footage showed Smith punching a guard in the face and then trying to strangle the guard.

The incident report provided by investigators said that Smith was initially let out of his cell after feigning a medical emergency. Evans has also been charged with 3rd degree assault and battery by mob, in addition to the already long list of larceny and burglary charges he was already facing. He has a total combined bond set in the amount of $385,000.

John William Strother Evans Tyler Wayne Smith