Severe storm leaves cars stranded on flooded New Jersey roads
Severe storms caused flash flooding in parts of coastal New Jersey.
A Jefferson County, W.Va., woman died after a large uprooted tree fell through a home in the Shannondale community southwest of Harpers Ferry as the area was feeling the effects from Tropical Storm Debby, according to West Virginia State Police.
Stephanie Wishmyer, 36, was hit and pinned under the tree Thursday night, according to a state police release. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Her husband, who also was home, was in an adjacent part of the home when the tree fell and was not injured.
State police noted that there had been substantial rain and effects from Tropical Storm Debby in the area on Thursday night.
Local impact from Debby: Memorial Boulevard closed to traffic between Potomac Street and Frederick Street
Live updates: Fast-moving Debby threatens Northeast with more dangerous conditions
Another tree fell while emergency crews were on scene and struck Independent Fire Co.’s Rescue 4 vehicle, causing minimal damage, according to state police. That tree knocked down power lines, which ended up atop a fire apparatus truck from Loudoun County, Va.
Emergency operations were suspended temporarily until the lines could be removed so operations could continue safely, state police said.
No injuries were reported from the second tree falling.
Emergency crews responded to the home in the 200 block of Mad Hatter Road shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday.
Today on MetroNews This Morning:
–Debby’s rain will dump on a parched West Virginia throughout the day
–Two former corrections officers at the SRJ have pleaded guilty to their role in an inmate’s beating death
–WVU fans can expect metal detectors at their game day gates at Milan Puskar Stadium
–In Sports: More pre-season high school football and WVU basketball wraps up a tour of Italy
Listen to “MetroNews This Morning 8-9-24” on Spreaker.
Tornado Watch
from THU 6:37 PM EDT until FRI 7:00 AM EDT, Arlington County, City of Alexandria, City of Fairfax, City of Manassas, Fauquier County, Fairfax County, Stafford County, Prince William County, City of Fredericksburg, Montgomery County, Charles County, Carroll County, Anne Arundel County, Prince Georges County, Frederick County, District of Columbia
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.
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.
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