West Virginia Guards Accused of Beating Inmate as They Moved Him Through Jail

A federal jury on Thursday indicted six former jail guards who were accused of beating an inmate last year and then trying to cover up his death, prosecutors said. 

The six guards — identified as Mark Holdren, Cory Snyder, Johnathan Walters, Jacob Boothe, Ashley Toney, and Chad Lester — were charged with the 2022 death of Quantez Burks, a 37-year-old inmate at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, located in southern West Virginia, according to the Justice Department. 

Five of the guards were correctional officers and one was a lieutenant. 

In March 2022, Burks, according to the indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, was subjected to “unreasonable force” by the six officers, which led to his death. 

Burks allegedly was assaulted by Snyder and Holdren after he tried to leave the pod he was in, the indictment says. Then Snyder, Holdren, and Walters allegedly beat Burks in an interview room, according to the indictment, and again while he was handcuffed. 

The indictment accuses Boothe and Toney of failing to intervene in the alleged physical assault. 

The five officers, along with Lester, the on-duty lieutenant at the time, were also accused of lying to investigators and covering up the incident.

In a statement, West Virginia Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mark Sorsaia expressed his sympathies for the family of Burks. 

 “We have no tolerance for abuse of any kind to be inflicted on inmates that are housed in our state facilities and we are committed to the safety, quality of life, and to the well being of those in the care of the legal system in our state,” Sorsaia said.