By Allan Lengel
A federal grand jury Thursday charged six former corrections officers in the 2022 fatal assault of a West Virginia prison inmate. They were also charged with covering up the use of unlawful force.
Authorities charged Mark Holdren, 39; Cory Snyder, 29; Johnathan Walters, 35; Jacob Boothe, 25; and Ashley Toney, 23, in connection with the assault that resulted in the death of the inmate, identified only by the initials Q.B., All five correctional officers, as well as a former lieutenant, Chad Lester, 33, were charged with covering up of the use of unlawful force, a press release said.
Authorities allege that on March 1, 2022, the defendants at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, conspired to use unlawful force against Q.B.
The indictment also alleges that Holdren, Snyder and Walters struck and injured Q.B. while he was restrained and handcuffed, and that Boothe and Toney failed to intervene in the unlawful assault, resulting in Q.B.’s death, the release said.
The indictment alleges that all six defendants conspired to cover up the use of unlawful force by omitting material information and providing false and misleading information to investigators. Authorities also charged that Walters, Holdren, and Boothe submitted incident reports that contained false and misleading information, and omitted the fact officers assaulted Q.B.
