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Prison Legal News

Sixth Guard Sentenced in West Virginia Killing 
of Pretrial Detainee

Loaded on July 15, 2025 published in Prison Legal News July, 2025, page 19
Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death). Location: West Virginia.

A former West Virginia guard who failed to intervene while fellow guards beat to death pretrial detainee Quantez Burks, 37, was sentenced on June 9, 2025, for her role in the 2022 assault. 

Ashley Toney, 25, got six and a half years in prison and an additional three years of supervised release from the federal court for the Southern District of West Virginia. As PLN reported, five other guards who participated in the attack have also been charged. [See: PLN, Mar. 2025, p.39.] One former lieutenant, Chad Lester, 35, was sentenced in May 2025 to 17 years in prison after being convicted of three counts of obstruction of justice. 

According to the federal Department of Justice, Toney and other guards at Southern Regional Jail in the town of Beaver brought Burks into an interview room, handcuffed him, and closed the door while multiple fellow guards beat Burks. He died on March 1, 2022. 

Toney pleaded guilty on August 8, 2024 to deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in physical injury. “The defendant’s inaction led to the death of a 37-year-old man, and afterwards she attempted to shield herself and fellow officers from being held accountable for his death,” Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston said in the release.  

 

Additional source: MetroNews 

More from this issue:

  1. Class-Action Suit at BOP “Rape Club” in California Settled for Record $116 Million
  2. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  3. Free Calls in Massachusetts Lead to 
Defunded Prison Programs
  4. 14th Alabama Sheriff’s Employee Pleads Guilty 
in Jail Detainee’s Death by Freezing
  5. $12 Million for Former California Prisoner 
Exonerated After 17 Years
  6. Latest Jail Booking Info Is Based on New Data Source
  7. $340,000 for Former Massachusetts Prisoner 
Whose Baby Was Stillborn, by Douglas Ankney
  8. JPay Loses Bid to Revoke Class Certification in Washington Prisoners’ Challenge to Crummy Products and Service
  9. Over One-Third of Older Texas Prisoners 
Suffering Cognitive Impairment, by Matthew Clarke
  10. Trump Pardons Virginia Sheriff Convicted 
of a Bribes-for-Badges Scheme
  11. New Jersey Supreme Court Refuses Guard’s Challenge to Firing 
for Failing to Report Kiss with Prisoner, by Douglas Ankney
  12. Oregon Prisoners Can Now Seek Economic Damages 
for Future Lost Income More Easily, by David Reutter
  13. Bold New Orleans Escape Calls Attention 
to Poor Jail Conditions
  14. Sixth Guard Sentenced in West Virginia Killing 
of Pretrial Detainee
  15. D.C. District Court Dismisses Class Action Against BOP 
Over Earned Sentence Credits
  16. Gag Order on Tennessee Attorney for Criticizing CoreCivic 
Lifted by Judge
  17. Nearly $60,000 Awarded to Mother Of Dead Missouri Prisoner 
In Suit For His DOC Records, by Anthony Accurso
  18. New York City Loses Bid to Withhold Jail Records, by Douglas Ankney
  19. Eleventh Circuit Announces New Deliberate Indifference 
Framework in Dismissing Georgia Prisoner’s Claim 
for Skipped Anti-Seizure Meds, by Douglas Ankney
  20. Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Arizona Challenge 
to Private Prisons
  21. Wiccan Nevada Prisoner Wins 18-Year Fight for Religious Items, by Clark Nelly
  22. California Prison Plagued by Toxic Water and Chronic Illness
  23. Former Prisoner Informant Appointed Deputy Director of BOP
  24. $22.5 Million Verdict Arrives Too Late for 
Wrongfully Convicted Illinois Prisoner, by David Reutter
  25. Washington Jail Settles DOJ Allegations of ADA Noncompliance 
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  26. First Circuit Revives Rhode Island Prisoner’s 
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  27. $42,000 Paid to Wisconsin Prisoner Allowed 
to Harm Himself While Under Observation, by Anthony Accurso
  28. Ohio Supreme Court Says Sheriff Must Get and Disclose 
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  29. Ongoing Detainee Deaths Push Rikers Island 
into Federal Court Receivership, by Anthony Accurso
  30. Trump’s “Border Czar” Was 
on GEO Group Payroll
  31. First Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Maine Guards who Ogled Prisoner During Childbirth, by David Reutter
  32. Colorado Passes New Law to Expand 
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  33. Massachusetts High Schooler Detained by ICE 
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  34. DHS Removed Sanctuary Cities List After Complaint 
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  35. Lawsuits Filed After Fatal Assault on 
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  36. Tennessee Board of Parole Spanked for Failing to Make Recommendation to Governor on Prisoner’s Clemency Application
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  38. New Hampshire Rolls Back Bail Reform
  39. Preliminary Injunction Issued Against Milwaukee Jail’s 
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  40. First of 10 Guards Charged with Killing 
of New York Prisoner Pleads Guilty
  41. Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission 
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  42. Former Death Row Prisoner Whose Case 
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  43. A Colorado Jail Has Banned In-Person Visits Since the Pandemic
  44. $250,000 Verdict for South Carolina Prisoner Pepper-Sprayed 
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  49. Former New Jersey Jailers Plead Guilty 
to Beating Detainee for Tossing Urine
  50. $550,000 Settlement After Juvenile’s Suicide at Charlotte Jail, by David Reutter
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  53. Hyundai Parts Supplier Stops Using Prison Slave Labor in Alabama
  54. The Dangerous Practice of Late-Night Jail Releases, by Anthony Accurso
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  56. $1.6 Million Class-Action Settlement 
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  59. Nearly $2.6 Million Paid to Former Minnesota Jail Detainee 
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  60. Alabama’s Oldest Prisoner Dies in Hospital
  61. Ohio Sued by Non-Profit Law Firm 
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  63. Kentucky Supreme Court Voids Prisoner’s $10,972 Jail Fee, by David Reutter
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