Prisma Health employee’s death ruled homicide after patient assault, coroner says

By STEPHANIE MOORE

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    SUMTER, South Carolina (WYFF) — The death of a Prisma Health employee who died after being hit in the groin by a patient has been ruled a homicide, according to the coroner’s office.

Kevin Robinson, 40, was pronounced dead May 31 after he was injured during an altercation with a patient at Prisma Health Tuomey, according to Coroner Robbie Baker, with the Sumter County Coroner’s Office.

Baker said an autopsy showed the cause of death was “physiological stress associated with physical altercation in the setting of cardiomegaly and obesity.”

The death was ruled a homicide, Baker said.

Sumter police said at the time of Robinson’s death that Imani Cox, 27, was charged with second-degree assault and battery in the case.

They have not said if those charges will be upgraded.

Police said Cox was admitted to Prisma Health Tuomey for a court-ordered evaluation and was trying to leave the facility on May 27 when hospital security and staff members attempted to detain her.

Information gathered in the investigation indicates Cox was aggressive and began to fight with employees, striking at least two of them, police said.

Sumter police said Robinson was a mental health technician and was struck in the groin area before he got sick and became unresponsive. Robinson died a few days later.

Cox was transferred to a Columbia-area hospital, where she was treated, police said.

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