Current:Home > InvestWest Virginia corrections officers plead guilty to not intervening as colleagues fatally beat inmate -WealthSphere Pro
West Virginia corrections officers plead guilty to not intervening as colleagues fatally beat inmate
Fastexy View
Date:2025-04-11 06:33:19
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Two West Virginia correctional officers accused of failing to intervene as their colleagues beat an incarcerated man to death in 2022 pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday.
Former Southern Regional Jail employees Jacob Boothe and Ashley Toney admitted to violating 37-year-old Quantez Burks’s civil rights by not protecting him from being physically assaulted by other correctional officers.
Toney and Boothe, who appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in Charleston, were among six former correctional officers indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023.
Burks was a pretrial detainee at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver who died less than a day after he was booked into the jail on a wanton endangerment charge in March 2022.
The case drew scrutiny to conditions and deaths at the Southern Regional Jail. 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 filed in 2022 on behalf of current and former inmates 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.
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 correctional officers are accused of striking Burks while he was restrained and handcuffed. He was later forcibly moved to a prison cell in another housing unit, where he was assaulted again.
The state medical examiner’s office attributed Burks’ primary cause of death to natural causes, prompting the family to have a private autopsy conducted. The family’s attorney revealed at a news conference last year that the second autopsy found the inmate had multiple areas of blunt force trauma on his body.
As part of their plea agreement, Toney and Boothe admitted to escorting Burks to an interview room, they watched as other officers struck and injured him while he was restrained, handcuffed and posed no threat to anyone. The two officers said officers struck Burks “in order to punish him for attempting to leave his assigned pod,” according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
In her plea agreement, Toney further admitted to knowing that the interview room to which officers brought Burks was a “blind spot” at the jail with no surveillance cameras.
Toney also admitted that she conspired with other officers to provide false information during the investigation of Burks’ death.
Toney and Boothe each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing hearings are scheduled for Nov. 4. Trial for the remaining four defendants is scheduled for Oct. 8.
veryGood! (62)
Related
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Arizona's farms are running out of water, forcing farmers to confront climate change
- Jennifer Lopez Just Dropped Her Second Exclusive Shoe Collection With Revolve
- Kim Kardashian Reveals the One Profession She’d Give Up Her Reality TV Career For
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- Sophia Culpo Addresses Unintentional Weight Loss After Braxton Berrios Breakup
- The Masked Singer's Mantis and Gargoyle Revealed
- Get a $65 Deal on $142 Worth of Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Skincare
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Kim Kardashian Reveals the One Profession She’d Give Up Her Reality TV Career For
Ranking
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- Vanderpump Rules' Ariana Madix Shares What She's Learned Through Tom Sandoval Cheating Scandal
- You'll Be a Sucker for Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra's Date Night at 2023 Met Gala
- Jury Duty's Ronald Gladden Reveals What It Was Really Like Working With James Marsden
- All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
- Why Princess Charlotte Will Never Be Your Average Spare Heir
- Never Meet Your Hero, Unless Your Hero Is Judy Blume
- Meghan Trainor Diagnosed With PTSD After Son Riley's Traumatic Birth
Recommendation
Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
BaubleBar's Sitewide Jewelry Sale Has Amazing Deals Starting at $10
LFO's Brad Fischetti Shares How He Found the Light Again After the Deaths of Rich Cronin and Devin Lima
Ryan Seacrest Reacts to Mark Consuelos’ First Week on Live With Kelly & Mark
Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
This week has had several days of the hottest temperatures on record
Across Canada, tens of thousands have evacuated due to wildfires in recent weeks
Sophia Culpo Addresses Unintentional Weight Loss After Braxton Berrios Breakup