CHARLESTON, W.Va. — 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.
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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.
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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.
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A man in Wayne County, West Virginia, caughta state record channel catfish in the pond on his father’s farm in South Charleston using an unexpected rod.
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John Tyler Rutherford reeled in a 43.51-inch-long, 46.70-pound channel catfish, according to a press release from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR).
Rutherford reportedly reeled in the big fish in July 21 by using his daughter’s fishing rod and worms as bait.
PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER CATCHES ‘BEAUTIFUL FISH’ RARELY SEEN IN LAKE ERIE
“I got my daughter a little $9.99 pink rod… she’s 3 and she can reel them in, but she can’t cast it out. So I cast it out for her and I was holding the rod and she was sitting on my lap,” he told West Virginia Outdoors.
John Tyler Rutherford’s channel catfish spanned 43.51 inches long and weighed 46.70 pounds. He caught the fish in a pond located in South Charleston, West Virginia.(WVDNR)
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The common length for channel catfish is 22 inches with the longest maximum reported length being 52 inches, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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“West Virginia’s incredible fishing opportunities continue to amaze and attract anglers from near and far and this record-breaking achievement showcases the world-class fishing adventures our state has to offer,” Governor Jim Justice said in the WVDNR’s release.
Rutherford used his daughter’s $9.99 pink fishing rod to reel in the channel catfish.(WVDNR)
The last West Virginia record for the channel catfish was set in the year 2022 for length, and in 2023 for weight.
Rutherford’s catch topped them both.
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WVDNR Director Brett McMillion congratulated Rutherford for his outstanding catch.
West Virginia has set six new state fish records this year.(WVDNR)
“This remarkable achievement highlights the superior quality of West Virginia’s fisheries and the dedication of our team in maintaining and enhancing these aquatic resources,” McMillion said in the release.
The state also set new records for tiger trout, redbreast sunfish, bowfin, redear sunfish and black crappie caught this year.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the WVDNR and Rutherford for comment.