Grand jury indicts 2 Bureau of Prisons employees in inmate’s death
A grand jury indicted two federal Bureau of Prisons employees for allegedly failing to provide medical care to a Virginia inmate who had a serious medical emergency and subsequently died.
PETERSBURG, Va. — A grand jury indicted two federal Bureau of Prisons employees for allegedly failing to provide medical care to a Virginia inmate who had a serious medical emergency and subsequently died, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Lieutenant Shronda Covington, 47, and registered nurse Tonya Farley, 52, face charges of violating inmates’ civil rights by willfully ignoring the medical needs of male prisoners at the Institute Federal Correctional Service in Petersburg, Virginia, in January 2021, a department press release said.
Farley was also charged with writing a false report about the incident. Covington and Farley, both of Chesterfield, Virginia, were also charged with perjury to federal agents.
Records obtained by the Associated Press identified the dead man as Wade Walters. He died on January 10, 2021, with the type of death listed as “cardiac”, but the documents do not specify a cause of death.
Each civil rights charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a false report charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and each false statement charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
It is not known if the two employees have attorneys who can comment for them.
