Two correctional officers sentenced in fatal beating of West Virginia detainee

Two former correctional officers in West Virginia have been sentenced for their roles in the 2022 death of Quantez Burks, a pretrial detainee at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Mark Holdren, 41, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and Johnathan Walters, 33, received a 21-year sentence after both pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to violate Burks’ civil rights, resulting in his death on March 1, 2022. They are among several officers who have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing in connection with the case.

According to court documents, Burks tried to push past another officer and leave his assigned pod when officer Holdren responded to the scene. As other officers were restraining him, Holdren used force that included multiple knee strikes he later admitted were unreasonable.

Burks was then taken to an interview room not monitored by cameras—described by officers as a “blind spot”—where officer Walters joined the group. There, Holdren, Walters, and others used additional force while Burks was handcuffed and no longer posed a threat.

The officers struck Burks in the head, kicked him, twisted his fingers, and used pepper spray. He became limp and unable to walk during the incident.

While transporting Burks to another pod, Walters admitted to swinging his head into a metal door to open it. Officers then carried the unresponsive detainee into a cell and dropped him onto the concrete floor. Emergency medical personnel later declared him dead.

Both men admitted knowing that the interview room was routinely used to carry out assaults away from surveillance and acknowledged that officers were not allowed to use force as punishment.

Holdren and Walters are among eight correctional officers indicted in the case. In 2024, two others—Corey Snyder and Jacob Boothe—pleaded guilty for their roles in the incident. Snyder admitted to using unlawful force, while Boothe admitted to failing to intervene. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for July 10.

Another officer, Ashley Toney, also pleaded guilty to failing to intervene and was sentenced last month to six and a half years in prison.

In January, a jury convicted former lieutenant Chad Lester on three counts of obstruction of justice for trying to cover up what happened. He was sentenced in May to 17 years in prison.

Two additional former officers, Steven Nicholas Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman, pleaded guilty prior to the indictment of the others. Wimmer was sentenced to 9 years in May, and Fleshman is scheduled for sentencing on July 14.