Latest news with #MarkHoldren
Al Arabiya
09-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
Former West Virginia officers sentenced to decades in prison for their role in deadly inmate assault
CHARLESTON, (AP) – Two former West Virginia correctional officers were sentenced to decades in prison on Wednesday for their roles in an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate. Mark Holdren, 41, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Johnathan Walters, 33, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the March 2022 attack in the Southern Regional Jail, according to a press release from the US Department of Justice. Quantez Burks, 37, was a pretrial detainee who died less than a day after he was booked into the jail in Beaver on a wanton endangerment charge, according to court documents. When Burks tried to push past an officer to leave his housing unit, he was taken to an interview room where he was handcuffed and restrained while officers, including Holdren and Walters, assaulted him. Burks was struck in the head multiple times, kicked, and pepper-sprayed, according to the Justice Department. After the assault, Burks became unresponsive, so officers, including Walters, carried him to a different pod. Walters swung Burks' head into a metal door to open it, and the officers dropped his body onto a concrete cell floor. He was pronounced deceased a short time later by emergency medical personnel. Along with their guilty pleas, Holdren and Walters admitted that the interview room where they took Burks had no surveillance cameras. They also knew that officers used this room and other blind spots in the jail to assault inmates accused of misconduct. Holdren and Walters are two of six correctional officers who were indicted in this case. They include ex-jail supervisor Chad Lester, who was sentenced in May to more than 17 years in federal prison for helping cover up the assault. Prior to the indictment of the six defendants, two other former correctional officers pleaded guilty to conspiring to use unreasonable force against Burks. The state medical examiner's office attributed Burks' primary cause of death to natural causes, prompting his family to seek a private autopsy. The family's attorney revealed at a news conference in late 2022 that the second autopsy found Burks had multiple areas of blunt force trauma on his body. The case drew scrutiny to conditions and deaths at the jail, and in November 2023, West Virginia agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates there. In recommending a default judgment in the lawsuit, a federal magistrate judge cited the intentional destruction of records in the case. That led to the firing of former Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Executive Officer Brad Douglas and Homeland Security Chief Counsel Phil Sword.
The Independent
09-07-2025
- The Independent
Former West Virginia officers sentenced to decades in prison for their role in deadly inmate assault
Two former West Virginia correctional officers were sentenced to decades in prison on Wednesday for their roles in an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate. Mark Holdren, 41, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Johnathan Walters, 33, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the March 2022 attack in the Southern Regional Jail, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Quantez Burks, 37, was a pretrial detainee who died less than a day after he was booked into the jail in Beaver on a wanton endangerment charge, according to court documents. When Burks tried to push past an officer to leave his housing unit, he was taken to an interview room where he was handcuffed and restrained while officers including Holdren and Walters assaulted him. Burks was struck in the head multiple times, kicked and pepper-sprayed, according to the Justice Department. After the assault, Burks became unresponsive, so officers including Walters carried him to a different pod. Walters swung Burks' head into a metal door to open it and the officers dropped his body onto a concrete cell floor. He was pronounced deceased a short time later by emergency medical personnel. Along with their guilty pleas, Holdren and Walters admitted that the interview room where they took Burks had no surveillance cameras. They also knew that officers used this room and other 'blind spots' in the jail to assault inmates accused of misconduct. Holdren and Walters are two of six correctional officers who were indicted in this case. They include ex-jail supervisor Chad Lester who was sentenced in May to more than 17 years in federal prison for helping cover up the assault. Prior to the indictment of the six defendants, two other former correctional officers pleaded guilty to conspiring to use unreasonable force against Burks. The state medical examiner's office attributed Burks' primary cause of death to natural causes, prompting his family to seek a private autopsy. The family's attorney revealed at a news conference in late 2022 that the second autopsy found Burks had multiple areas of blunt force trauma on his body. The case drew scrutiny to conditions and deaths at the jail, and in November 2023, West Virginia agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates there. In recommending a default judgment in the lawsuit, a federal magistrate judge cited the intentional destruction of records in the case. That led to the firing of former Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Executive Officer Brad Douglas and Homeland Security Chief Counsel Phil Sword.
Associated Press
09-07-2025
- Associated Press
Former West Virginia officers sentenced to decades in prison for their role in deadly inmate assault
CHARLESTON, (AP) — Two former West Virginia correctional officers were sentenced to decades in prison on Wednesday for their roles in an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate. Mark Holdren, 41, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Johnathan Walters, 33, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the March 2022 attack in the Southern Regional Jail, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Quantez Burks, 37, was a pretrial detainee who died less than a day after he was booked into the jail in Beaver on a wanton endangerment charge, according to court documents. When Burks tried to push past an officer to leave his housing unit, he was taken to an interview room where he was handcuffed and restrained while officers including Holdren and Walters assaulted him. Burks was struck in the head multiple times, kicked and pepper-sprayed, according to the Justice Department. After the assault, Burks became unresponsive, so officers including Walters carried him to a different pod. Walters swung Burks' head into a metal door to open it and the officers dropped his body onto a concrete cell floor. He was pronounced deceased a short time later by emergency medical personnel. Along with their guilty pleas, Holdren and Walters admitted that the interview room where they took Burks had no surveillance cameras. They also knew that officers used this room and other 'blind spots' in the jail to assault inmates accused of misconduct. Holdren and Walters are two of six correctional officers who were indicted in this case. They include ex-jail supervisor Chad Lester who was sentenced in May to more than 17 years in federal prison for helping cover up the assault. Prior to the indictment of the six defendants, two other former correctional officers pleaded guilty to conspiring to use unreasonable force against Burks. The state medical examiner's office attributed Burks' primary cause of death to natural causes, prompting his family to seek a private autopsy. The family's attorney revealed at a news conference in late 2022 that the second autopsy found Burks had multiple areas of blunt force trauma on his body. The case drew scrutiny to conditions and deaths at the jail, and in November 2023, West Virginia agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates there. In recommending a default judgment in the lawsuit, a federal magistrate judge cited the intentional destruction of records in the case. That led to the firing of former Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Executive Officer Brad Douglas and Homeland Security Chief Counsel Phil Sword.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Brickbat: Group Effort
Steven Nicholas Wimmer, a former corrections officer at Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, received a sentence of nine years in prison followed by three years of probation for his role in the 2022 death of an inmate. Wimmer and fellow officer Andrew Fleshman pleaded guilty in November 2023, admitting they conspired with others to use excessive force against an inmate—identified in court documents only as Q.B.—after he tried to push past another officer. They restrained, handcuffed, and escorted Q.B. to an interview room, where they and other officers struck and injured him, causing his death. Three other officers, Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder, and Johnathan Walters, pleaded guilty in November 2024 for using unreasonable force, while two others admitted to failing to intervene. The post Brickbat: Group Effort appeared first on
