Latest news with #QuantezBurks
New York Times
6 days ago
- New York Times
Four Ex-Jail Officers Are Sentenced in Death of West Virginia Inmate
Four former corrections officers at a West Virginia jail were sentenced this week to prison terms ranging from three years to more than two decades for their roles in the fatal beating of an inmate there three years ago, prosecutors said. The former officers were among eight who have been convicted in connection with the death of the inmate, Quantez Burks, 37, and an attempt to cover up the assault at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, on March 1, 2022. Seven have now been sentenced. Mr. Burks had been at the jail for less than 24 hours when officers took him to 'blind spots' — areas without surveillance video — to punish him for having tried to push past a corrections officer and leave his assigned pod, prosecutors said. Officers kicked and punched Mr. Burks, slammed his head into a metal table, pulled and twisted his fingers and pepper-sprayed him while he was in handcuffs, prosecutors said. They continued to beat him, prosecutors said, even after he lay motionless on a cell floor. When emergency medical workers arrived, they pronounced Mr. Burks dead. An initial autopsy, performed by the state, concluded that he had died of a heart attack, but members of his family later questioned that finding when they saw his bruised and beaten body, his family's lawyers said. They paid for their own autopsy, which found that the cause of death had been blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso and extremities, as well as cardiovascular disease, the lawyers said. After Mr. Burks died, officers at the jail tried to cover up the assault by writing false reports, giving a false story to investigators and threatening other officers with violence and retaliation if they confessed the truth to the authorities, prosecutors said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Al Arabiya
7 days ago
- 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
7 days ago
- 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
7 days ago
- 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.
Associated Press
15-05-2025
- Associated Press
Former West Virginia jail supervisor sentenced in coverup of assault that led to inmate's death
CHARLESTON, (AP) — An ex-jail supervisor in West Virginia was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in federal prison for his role in the coverup of an assault by other corrections officers that led to an inmate's death. Former Lt. Chad Lester was convicted in January of three felony obstruction of justice charges related to the March 2022 attack on Southern Regional Jail inmate Quantez Burks. 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, Burks tried to push past an officer to leave his housing unit. Burks then was escorted to an interview room where officers hit him while he was restrained and handcuffed. Prosecutors said Lester gave false statements to investigators and told subordinate officers to do the same. Lester also threatened officers with violence and retaliation and added false statements to several officers' reports. A jury convicted Lester on charges of giving false statements, witness tampering and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. 'On the defendant's watch, correctional officers killed an inmate, and the defendant conspired with them to cover up their crimes,' Lisa Johnston, acting U.S. attorney for West Virginia's southern district, said in a statement. 'The defendant violated the public's trust in the law enforcement system he had sworn to uphold.' Seven other correctional officers have pleaded guilty in connection with the assault. Several testified against Lester during his trial. Officer Steven Nicholas Wimmer was sentenced last week to nine years in prison for conspiring to use unreasonable force against Burks. Four others face sentencing on the same charge later this year. Two other officers are set for sentencing next month for their guilty pleas to violating the civil rights of Burks by failing to intervene in the assault. The state medical examiner's office attributed Burks' primary cause of death to natural causes, prompting his family to have a private autopsy conducted. 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, where news outlets had reported there were more than a dozen deaths in 2022. In November 2023, West Virginia agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates who described conditions at the jail as inhumane. The lawsuit cited such complaints as a lack of access to water and food at the facility, as well as overcrowding and fights that were allowed to continue until someone was injured. The administration of then-Gov. Jim Justice fired former Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Executive Officer Brad Douglas and Homeland Security Chief Counsel Phil Sword after a federal magistrate judge cited the 'intentional' destruction of records in recommending a default judgment in the lawsuit. That followed a hearing in October 2023 in which former and current corrections officials, including some defendants in the lawsuit, said no steps had been taken to preserve evidence at the jail, including emails and documents.
