A former correctional officer in southern West Virginia, Mark Holdren, pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation in connection with the death of Quantez Burks, a man who passed away less than a day after being booked into a jail. Holdren admitted to conspiring with other officers to beat Burks as retaliation at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver.
Holdren was one of six ex-correctional officers indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023. Burks, 37, had been booked into the jail on a wanton endangerment charge in March 2022. Court documents revealed that Burks was allegedly struck by correctional officers while restrained and handcuffed in an interview room.
