Solicitor: Charges dismissed against former deputy in drownings of 2 women in HCSO van

MARION COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – All charges have been dismissed against a former Horry County deputy who was accused in the drownings of two mental health patients in the back of a transport van.

Joshua Bishop was one of two Horry County deputies who was transporting Wendy Newton and Nicolette Green to a behavioral health center in Lancaster, when the van was swept away by Hurricane Florence floodwaters. The two women drowned inside the van.

Bishop was previously charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of Wendy Newton and Nicolette Green in September 2018.

Nicolette Green (left) and Wendy Newton drowned September 18, 2018 in the back of an Horry... — Nicolette Green (left) and Wendy Newton drowned September 18, 2018 in the back of an Horry County Sheriff's Office transport van. (Source: Green and Newton families)

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Twelfth Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements said that when he brought charges against Bishop, all he had to do was meet the standard of probable cause which is pretty low.

But he said now he doesn’t have anyone to testify against Bishop at a trial, and there is no one to refute his statement over what happened that day.

Clements explained that there is a lack of evidence against Bishop in the case.

“He was in the van but he wasn’t in control, and by the time he realized the situation it was too late,” said Clements.

The driver of the van, Stephen Flood, was convicted of Newton and Green’s deaths in May 2022 and sentenced to 18 years in prison.