A former deputy jailer has been convicted for his role in the violent assault of a pre-trial detainee at the Kentucky River Regional Jail.
On Thursday evening, William Curtis Howell, 60, was convicted of using excessive force against the detainee, resulting in bodily injury, and of deliberately ignoring the detainee’s serious medical needs, also resulting in bodily injury.
Following a four-day trial, the jury returned the verdict after 90 minutes of deliberating.
The evidence presented at the trial shows that on July 9, 2013, Howell and supervisory deputy jailer, Damon Wayne Hickman, violently beat pre-trial detainee, Larry Trent, 54, and left him in his cell, seriously injured and bleeding from a head wound. He died from injuries sustained during the beating. Trent was in custody for a DUI charge.
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Deputy Jailer Hickman was initially charged along with Howell. He pleaded guilty prior to trial and testified against Howell.
According to the evidence, the assault happened when Howell and Hickman opened the door to Trent’s cell to remove a sleeping mat and Trent ran out of the cell. The Department of Justice reports that Howell tased Trent, and while Trent was on the floor, Hickman violently kicked Trent in the ribs. Deputies carried Trent back to his cell. Trent took the taser from the deputy jailers.
Witnesses testified that after deputies retrieved the taser from Trent, Trent was restrained on the floor by the deputy jailers and punched, kicked, and stomped on. The witnesses also said that Howell stepped into Trent’s cell and kicked him in the head while he was on the floor.
Testimony further revealed that Trent was lying motionless in his cell with blood all over his face and Howell and Hickman did not provide medical attention because they didn’t want to get in trouble.
Four hours after Trent was beaten, another employee at the jail noticed his lifeless body and emergency personnel were called.
Trent was pronounced dead at a local hospital. An autopsy report shows that he died of a fracture to his pelvis that caused hemorrhaging and from blunt force trauma to his head, torso, and extremities.
