Charleston, West Virginia
A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted five former correctional officers—Mark Holdren, 39; Cory Snyder, 29; Johnathan Walters, 35; Jacob Boothe, 25; and Ashley Toney, 23—in connection with an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate, officials stated.
Authorities identified the victim as 37-year-old Quantez Burks.
All five correctional officers, as well as a former lieutenant, Chad Lester, 33, were also charged with covering up the use of unlawful force.
(News Report 2023)
The indictment alleges that, on March 1, 2022, Holdren, Snyder, and Walters conspired with other officers at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, to use unlawful force against Burks to retaliate for his earlier attempt to leave his assigned pod.
The indictment further alleges that Holdren, Snyder, and Walters struck and injured Burks while he was restrained and handcuffed.
Boothe and Toney allegedly failed to intervene in the unlawful assault, resulting in Burks’ death.
The indictment alleges that all six defendants conspired to cover up the use of unlawful force by omitting material information and providing false and misleading information to investigators.
The indictment also charges each defendant individually with engaging in misleading conduct toward another person to hinder, delay, or prevent the communication of information about the possible commission of a federal offense.
Further, the indictment alleges that Walters, Holdren, and Boothe submitted incident reports that contained false and misleading information, as well as omitted the fact that officers had assaulted Burks.
The indictment also charges Lester, Holdren, Snyder, Toney, and Boothe with making false statements to the FBI about the circumstances surrounding Burks death.
If convicted of all the charges, the defendants face up to life in prison. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The FBI Pittsburgh Field Office investigated the case.