West Virginia: Two former corrections officers plead guilty in inmate death

Two former corrections officers in West Virginia pleaded guilty for their roles in the assault that led to the death of a jail inmate.

Johnathan Walters pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring with other officers to violate the civil rights of a pre-trial defendant being held at Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, W.Va., a man named Quantez Burks, 37, who was killed on March 1, 2022

Corey Snyder pleaded guilty on Tuesday to the same offense.

According to court documents filed in connection with the guilty pleas, Snyder responded to a call for officer assistance after Burks tried to push past another correctional officer and leave his assigned pod.

When Snyder arrived, officers were using force to restrain and handcuff Burks, who had been arrested a day earlier on charges of wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer, allegations related to discharging a firearm at his home during an argument

Snyder also began using force, including putting his arm around Burks’s neck and taking him to the floor.

Officers then took Burks to an interview room, where Walters joined them. In the interview room, the officers used unreasonable force against Burks, striking him in the head multiple times, kicked, knee-struck, pulled and twisted Burks’s finger and sprayed him with O.C. spray, all while Burks was restrained, handcuffed and posed no threat to anyone.

After the unreasonable use of force in the interview room, officers transported Burks to A-Pod. During the transport to A-Pod, Burks became limp and was unable to walk on his own.

Officers then carried Burks by his arms and legs down the hallway to A-Pod. Walters carried Burks by one of his arms, leading the other officers and Burks to the pod.

At the door to A-Pod, Walters admitted to using unjustified force by swinging Burks’s head into the metal door and using the force from Burks’s head to push open the door.

Snyder and Walters each further admitted knowing that the interview room to which officers brought Burks was a “blind spot” at the jail — meaning, there were no surveillance cameras to record what happened inside the room. Each also admitted to being aware that, prior to the assault of Burks on March 1, 2022, officers brought inmates and pretrial detainees who had engaged in misconduct to “blind spots” in the jail, where officers would use unreasonable force without being captured on video.

According to their plea agreements, Snyder and Walters each face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Snyder and Walters are two of six former correctional officers indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023 in connection with the death of Burks. Three of those six defendants previously pleaded guilty in connection with the use of unreasonable force against Burks.

On Aug. 8, 2023, Ashley Toney and Jacob Boothe each pleaded guilty to violating Burks’s civil rights by failing to intervene when other officers used unreasonable force. On Nov. 13, Mark Holdren pleaded guilty to conspiring with other officers to violate Burks’s civil rights.

Sentencing hearings for Boothe, Toney and Holdren are scheduled for Feb. 5, 2025.

Trial for the remaining defendant is scheduled for Dec. 10. The remaining defendant faces charges related to the cover-up of the unreasonable uses of force which caused bodily injury to and the death of Burks.

Prior to the indictment, on Nov. 2, 2023, former Southern Regional Jail correctional officers Steven Nicholas Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman each separately pleaded guilty to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against Burks in connection with this incident.

Sentencing hearings for Wimmer and Fleshman are scheduled for Feb. 7, 2025.