David Earl Bender, a 43-year-old West Columbia man, was sentenced last month to 20 years in prison following his conviction at trial on Wednesday, April 15, in Lexington County, for Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature. Chief Administrative Judge Debra R. McCaslin presided over the jury trial and imposed the sentence. Under South Carolina law, Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature is classified a violent, serious, and no-parole offense. The maximum sentence for this charge is twenty years in prison.

Assistant Solicitors Bruce H. Norton II and Melissa Moon oversaw the prosecution of this case, and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation.

On September 24, 2024, Lexington County Detention Center declared a medical emergency after the victim was found injured inside his cell. Investigators with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department responded to the assault that took place in the jail. Investigators were able to determine that Bender and the victim were cell mates, and the incident occurred while Bender and the victim had been placed into the cell for the night. When investigators spoke to Bender, he advised them that the victim had fallen during a verbal argument over a detention center issued tablet.

At trial, the jury heard evidence of the assault as most of it was audio recorded by the tablet device, as Bender had been using the phone application at the time of the assault. The tablet devices record all captured audio when an inmate is using the phone application.

The victim was transported to an area hospital in critical condition. During the trial, the jury heard testimony that the victim suffered extensive physical injuries including major head trauma, facial fractures, multiple broken ribs, and a collapsed lung. The victim had to be placed on a ventilator and spent over six months in the hospital before being released.

Bender has prior convictions for Aggravated Assault, Domestic Violence, Failure to Stop for Blue Lights, and Resisting Arrest. Bender has been transported to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to serve his sentence