KENTUCKY
A federal grand jury indicted two former deputy jailers at the Kentucky River Regional Jail on charges related to the death of Larry Trent an inmate on July 9, 2013, officials announced Monday.
The indictment charges Damon Hickman, 38, and William Howell, 59, with causing Trent’s death, and charges Hickman with attempting to cover up his involvement in the death.
Hickman and Howell are charged with federal civil rights violations for depriving Trent of his civil rights.
Count one of the indictment charges Hickman and Howell of failing to provide Trent with necessary medical care after he was injured, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to Trent, which resulted in Trent’s death, officials said.
Count two of the indictment also charges both defendants with using excessive force against Trent, resulting in bodily injury to him, according to authorities.
Hickman is additionally charged with one count of obstruction of justice for falsifying an official log by indicating that observations of Trent were being made and that Trent was “10-4,” meaning that he was safe and not in obvious physical distress, when in fact Trent was not “10-4,” according to the indictment.
A report in the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting states that police arrested Trent on July 5, 2013, in his car outside a doughnut shop. Trent told police he drank “about four beers and mouthwash” before driving to the store with his 10-year-old grandson.
He was booked into the Kentucky River Regional Jail and beaten four days later, the Investigative Report stated.
If convicted of the charges, Hickman and Howell face up to life in prison.
Hickman faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for falsification of records in a federal investigation.
The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The FBI investigated this case.
(July 2014 WYMT/CBS TV REPORTS)