Two West Virginia prison guards got slammed with heavy prison time for beating a detainee to death back in 2022. Mark Holdren walked away with a 20-year stretch while Johnathan Walters landed himself a 21-year sentence for the brutal killing of Quantez Burks. Federal prosecutors nailed both men after they admitted conspiring to violate the victim's civil rights at Southern Regional Jail. The deadly beating went down on March 1 when Burks tried pushing past another guard to escape his assigned area. Multiple officers jumped on the detainee and started pounding him with knee strikes that Holdren later confessed were completely over the line.
Guards dragged the helpless man into a camera-free interview room that prison staff called their go-to blind spot for off-the-books beatings. Walters joined the savage assault while Burks remained handcuffed and posed zero threat to anyone around him. The corrupt officers pummeled his head, kicked his body, twisted his fingers and blasted him with pepper spray until he went completely limp. Walters even admitted swinging the victim's head into a metal door before other guards carried his lifeless body to a cell. They dumped Burks onto the concrete floor where medical staff later pronounced him dead.
Eight total officers caught federal charges for the murder with several already behind bars. Prosecutors secured guilty pleas from multiple defendants who admitted using the interview room for regular beatings away from surveillance cameras. Former lieutenant Chad Lester tried covering up the killing and earned himself 17 years for obstruction of justice.
Guards dragged the helpless man into a camera-free interview room that prison staff called their go-to blind spot for off-the-books beatings. Walters joined the savage assault while Burks remained handcuffed and posed zero threat to anyone around him. The corrupt officers pummeled his head, kicked his body, twisted his fingers and blasted him with pepper spray until he went completely limp. Walters even admitted swinging the victim's head into a metal door before other guards carried his lifeless body to a cell. They dumped Burks onto the concrete floor where medical staff later pronounced him dead.
Eight total officers caught federal charges for the murder with several already behind bars. Prosecutors secured guilty pleas from multiple defendants who admitted using the interview room for regular beatings away from surveillance cameras. Former lieutenant Chad Lester tried covering up the killing and earned himself 17 years for obstruction of justice.
