Quantez Burks’ mother and fiancee react to plea deals offered to two officers charged in his death

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — Two former Southern Regional Jail corrections officers charged in the 2022 death of Quantez Burks pleaded guilty in United States District Court of the Southern District of West Virginia in Charleston on Thursday, August 8, 2024.

Ashley Toney and Jacob Boothe pleaded guilty to depriving Burks of his civil rights under color of law, a charge that carries up to 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and possible restitution to Burks’ family. Each also posted a $10,000 bond.

“They got a good deal. They really did,” said Kimberly Burks, Burks’ mother, one day before the judge accepted the plea agreements. “Not satisfied with it, but we appreciate everything. We are so thankful because if it was up to the state, we wouldn’t be here.”

Kimberly Burks said Southern Regional Jail officials never notified her of her son’s death at the jail on March 1, 2022.

West Virginia Department of Homeland officials told media, in the hours following Burks’ death, that he had been combative with arresting officers and guards and that he had tried to “push past” SRJ corrections officers and later collapsed in his cell when corrections officers were attempting to restrain him.

Details of his death only emerged after the Burks family campaigned publicly for answers, hired attorneys and paid for a private autopsy, eventually gaining the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which opened a criminal investigation.

Kimberly Burks said on Wednesday that she does not trust official reports kept by state agencies.

“The first thing they said about Quan was a lie,” she said, referring to the early statement WVDHS officials gave to reporters.

As part of their plea agreement, Toney and Boothe admitted that they had witnessed other officers parading a handcuffed Burks to different places in the jail and beating him on March 1, 2022, while he was restrained. They accepted responsibility in the plea deal for failing to intervene.

Each were initially charged with multiple felonies in Burks’ death.

In her plea agreement, Toney admitted that she was aware, based on her experience at the jail, that officers were leading Burks to “blind spots,” which were places without cameras and which, according to the complaint, corrections officers at SRJ would take inmates so they could use unreasonable force without video evidence which could lead to retribution.

Photos taken of Burks’ body show head-to-toe bruising and lacerations, which Kimberly Burks has said brings into question the State Medical Examiner’s Office ruling that Burks died of natural causes.

“They took him to several blind spots and they did beat him, handcuffed,” said Latasha Williams, Burks’ fiancee, on Tuesday. “We appreciate everything the DOJ has done, like my mother-in-law said, but that time, that 10 years, that’s really a slap in the face, honestly.”

Kimberly Burks said she hopes the plea agreement offered to the SRJ officers will eventually lead to light being shined on the interactions between various state agencies when incarcerated people die under suspicious circumstances.

“We believe in Quan,” said Kimberly Burks, adding that their faith led them to continue pushing state officials for answers about how he had died. “They (the guards who will go to trial) need to really set an example of, so that this doesn’t keep happening.”

A number of West Virginia families have said they were not given clear answers on how their loved ones died at Southern Regional Jail.

Prosecutors allege a total of eight corrections officers participated in beating Burks and later falsifying official incident reports and lying to federal investigators in order to try to hide the crime.

Two of the officers, Andrew Fleshman and Nicholas Wimmer , pleaded guilty late last year and also face 10 years in prison.

In the first statement WVDHS officials had issued in the hours after Burks’ death, they said SRJ corrections officers had attempted to save Burks’ life.

A civil lawsuit filed by attorney Stephen New contradicts the official statement.

The lawsuit alleges a nurse employed by PrimeCare Medical, the private company which provides health care to incarcerated West Virginians, suggested to the corrections officers that Burks should be injected with insulin, arguing it could make his death appear natural.

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