Correctional officers charged with conspiracy in 2022 inmate death

Aug. 24—Before his death at Southern Regional Jail (SRJ) in Beaver, 37-year-old Quantez Burks was assaulted by multiple correctional officers while being handcuffed and after being handcuffed, according to prosecutorial information filed Tuesday.

Charges of conspiracy against two of the officers, Steven Nicholas Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman, were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred on March 1, 2022, at the jail with an inmate referred to as "Q.B."

Although the filing does not mention Quantez Burks by name, it does state that Q.B. "was a 37-year-old pre-trial detainee in custody at the SRJ" on March 1, 2022.

Quantez Burks was 37 years old when he died at SRJ on March 1, 2022.

Wimmer and Fleshman are both expected to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge. On Wednesday, Monica D. Coleman, an assistant attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, filed a motion to schedule a "guilty plea hearing."

In an interview with The Register-Herald on Wednesday, Quantez Burks' mother Kimberly said she believes these charges are just the beginning.

"It took us a year and four months to get to where we are and a lot of advocating," she said. "We are by no means finished with this case. There are still people who will be charged. It's coming."

Quantez Burks died after being arrested the previous day on charges of wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer.

Kimberly Burks said the state's pathologist determined that her son died of natural causes after experiencing hypertensive cardiac arrest.

A private autopsy arranged by the Burks family, however, determined that Quantez died of a heart attack after sustaining blunt force trauma to his body and fractured bones in his forearm and wrist along with other injuries.

Kimberly Burks said these injuries were consistent with the assault her son suffered at the hands of correctional officers while he was handcuffed, which is described in the prosecutorial information.

"I'm very pleased with what happened today and glad that we have somebody on our team that is working for us because the state of West Virginia has not done anything," she said. "If we had to depend on them, it would all still go unnoticed like all the other deaths that they've faced."

State officials involved with SRJ are also being sued as part of a class action lawsuit that alleges inhumane treatment of inmates at the jail.

The Register-Herald reached out to the state for comment. Andy Malinoski, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security/ Department of Corrections, said the agency would have no comment on an "active federal investigation" but that it was cooperating with the investigating agencies.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice also declined to comment.

According to a release from the WV Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations on the evening of March 1, 2022, Quantez Burks was booked into SRJ at 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28, 2022.

The release described Burks as "combative both during the admission process and later that evening."

It goes on to say that "(Quantez Burks) was again combative at around 10 a.m. the following morning, assaulting multiple staff while attempting to force his way out of the section."

According to the information filing, Wimmer and Fleshman were both called in to assist after Quantez Burks "tried to push past a correctional officer and leave C-pod."

When Wimmer and Fleshman arrived at C-pod, which is one of the housing units for inmates at SRJ, Quantez Burks was already on the floor as other unnamed jail employees "were engaged in using force against" him.

Wimmer, Fleshman and other officers restrained and handcuffed Quantez Burks and escorted him from C-pod and into an interview room.

While in the interview room, the filing states that Fleshman "and other members of the conspiracy" began to assault Quantez Burks "to punish him while he was restrained, handcuffed and while he posed no threat to anyone."

Quantez Burks, still handcuffed, was then transported to a cell in A-pod where Wimmer and others continued to assault him.

The state's March 2022 release notes that Quantez Burks was taken to an "administrative segregation section of the facility" on March 1, 2022, "where he collapsed upon being taken to a cell. Staff immediately provided emergency medical assistance, but were unable to revive him."

Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield said he has not been involved in this case, adding that he referred it to federal authorities within days of Quantez Burks' death to avoid any "appearance of impropriety."

However, Hatfield said he could provide insight into what will likely happen next for Wimmer and Fleshman.

As U.S. attorneys filed prosecutorial information, instead of a criminal complaint or an indictment from a grand jury, Hatfield said that is an indicator that the defendants have already agreed to plea to their charges.

"So 99.9 repeating percent of the time, if you see that an information has been filed, whether it's federal or state court, there's a deal already done," he said.

A date for the plea hearings has not been set. Both cases have been assigned to U.S. District Judge Frank Volk of the federal district court for West Virginia's Southern District.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com