BLYTHEWOOD – Two months after a woman accused a Town employee of preventing her from leaving the Manor with her 10-month old baby, an incident she claims caused a medical emergency, it appears the investigation has resulted in no charges against the accused.
“It’s my understanding that the Richland County Sheriff’s Department did review the footage of the Manor incident and conducted an investigation,” Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock told The Voice on Tuesday in response to an email requesting information about the status of the investigation. “It was communicated to me that, after review, they have concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to warrant charges. I am not certain if they have wrapped up their investigation into the Sept. 11, 2025 incident.”
The Voice sent an email to Sheriff Leon Lott on Monday requesting information about the investigation’s status but had not received a response by press time Wednesday.
In a lawsuit filed on Oct. 30, 2025, Michelle Layman alleges the employee was following the mayor’s instruction to prevent her from leaving the building unless she took back a check she had left with the Manor’s assistant director. The lawsuit claims that the Town’s Human Resources director was present throughout the incident and did not intervene on Layman’s behalf. Layman contends she suffered a heart attack as a result of the incident.
During the incident, Layman was issued a trespass notice based on claims made in an incident report submitted by a Richland County Sheriff’s Deputy. Each significant claim in the incident report against Layman is undermined by surveillance video that recorded the Manor incident.
Layman is suing the Town for gross negligence, negligence, defamation, false imprisonment, and abuse of process. The suit also accuses Mayor Sloan Griffin of defamation in his individual capacity.