BECKLEY — Two former jail guards pleaded guilty in the death of pretrial defendant Quantez Burks, and more charges for other guards are likely still ahead.
That’s small satisfaction for Kimberly Burks, his mother. Outside Southern West Virginia’s federal courthouse, Burks and other family members gathered before cameras and microphones to describe their continuing outrage over the fatal beating that occurred in multiple rooms at the Southern Regional Jail.
Corrections officers Andrew Fleshman, 21, and Steven Nicholas Wimmer, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the rights of citizens under the U.S. Code Title 18, Section 241. U.S. District Judge Frank Volk will take a range of factors into consideration when determining their sentences on Feb. 22, but they face up to 10 years in prison.
A component of their plea is agreement that they will cooperate with additional aspects of a federal investigation. An information filed in their case indicates they were not the only corrections officers involved in the fatal beating of Burks, and there were strong hints from case participants that charges to more correctional officers are very possible.
“When I saw those two young men and their families, I felt like hell had just broke loose because they are monsters,” Kimberly Burks said after the plea hearing.
“There was no reason to follow suit with those COs because you’re angry. What are you angry for? You didn’t know him personally. You didn’t have anything to do with him. He was in there on a misdemeanor charge and they took his life. They took his life for no reason, being handcuffed. It was not called for.”
Kiera Cooper, daughter of Quantez Burks, said the courtroom experience was hard to put into words.
“To look them in their face was just heartbreaking,” she said. “I really can’t find the words to describe how I felt. It’s just not fair. They still get to go home. They get to see their loved ones. We have to go to a graveyard.”
Burks had only been in jail 24 hours. He had been arrested Feb. 28, 2022, and charged with wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer, allegations related to discharging a firearm at his home during an argument.
He died March 1.
The federal filings that lay out the case accuse the two of being at work as corrections officers around March 1, 2022, when they responded to a call for assistance after Burks tried to push past a corrections officer and leave Southern Regional Jail’s C-pod.
When Fleshman and Wimmer arrived, according to the filings, Burks was on the floor “as other persons known and unknown to the United States Attorney were engaged in using force” against him.
The officers then restrained and handcuffed Burks, identified in the filings as Q.B.
Then, according to the allegations, the officers conspired to further physically punish the inmate.
They escorted Burks to an interview room where officers “aided and abetted by each other, struck and otherwise assaulted and injured Q.B. to punish him while he was restrained, handcuffed and while he posed no threat to anyone.”
In their plea hearing, Fleshman and Wimmer were asked to describe their actions to Judge Volk. Each, standing before long microphones, could barely be heard. Fleshman briefly described stepping on Burks’ ankle in the interview room before his voice tapered off. Wimmer spoke so quietly, his statement was almost inaudible from the courtroom benches.
After the hearing, a court-appointed attorney for Fleshman said his client had not engaged in violent acts but that he was on the edge of the group behavior that resulted in Burks’ death.
“He played a minor role, a much minor role — but he was involved. He’s very remorseful about it,” said attorney Ward Morgan.
In the courtroom, Judge Volk went over all the boilerplate of the plea agreements, asking every step of the way if Fleshman and Wimmer understood the terms.
“I plead guilty sir,” said Fleshman, wearing a gray suit.
“I plead guilty your honor,” said Wimmer, in a black shirt and tie.
When it was over, families on both sides of the fatal incident filed out of the courtroom. Burks’ family had a short meeting with prosecutors before exiting into the early afternoon mix of sunlight and shadow.
As they addressed reporters, Kimberly Burks described a frenzy of group behavior at the jail.
“They act as a pack,” Burks said. “This is an ongoing investigation. It is not over. This is just the beginning. Nick Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman have been found guilty of conspiracy today. They are guilty.
“Based on their participation, the weakest link out of the whole crew, they all will get time and they are all going down.”