Former WV correctional officer gets six years in inmate’s death

by Lori Kersey, West Virginia Watch
June 9, 2025

A former correctional officer was sentenced Monday to six and a half years in prison for failing to stop fellow officers during an assault that left an inmate dead. 

Ashley Toney’s prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release. 

Toney and five other former correctional officers at Southern Regional Jail in Beaver were charged in connection to the death of Quentez Burks, who died March 1, 2022. His death came one day after he was booked in the jail on charges of wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer. Burks was identified as Q.B. in Monday’s news release but has been identified in a prior news release and in media reports as Burks. 

According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Toney acknowledged she responded to a call for officer assistance after Burks tried to push past another officer and leave his assigned pod. She and other officers handcuffed the man and took him to an interview room where several officers hit and injured him while he was restrained and not posing a threat. The beating was punishment for attempting to leave his pod, according to the news release. 

Toney pleaded guilty on Aug. 8, 2024 to deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in physical injury, according to the release. 

“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. “Through her criminal conduct, the defendant violated the public’s trust in the law enforcement system she swore to uphold. I commend the Civil Rights Division for their outstanding advocacy in this case.”

Of the six former correctional officers charged in the assault, three — Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder and Johnathan Walters — pleaded guilty in connection with the use of unreasonable force in the assault. Jacob Boothe pleaded guilty to failing to intervene to protect Burks from the officers’ assault.

Sentencing hearings for Holdren, Snyder, Walters and Booth are scheduled for next month. 

Chad Lester, a former lieutenant was tried and convicted of three counts of obstruction of justice and was sentenced last month to 17 years in prison. 

Two other former correctional officers, Steven Nicholas Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman, pleaded guilty before they were indicted to conspiring to use unreasonable force. Wimmer was sentenced to nine years. Fleshman will be sentenced next month.

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