A jury has cleared an inmate at the state's youth prison of reckless homicide in the death of a staff member, while finding him guilty on a lesser battery count.
Javarius Hurd, now 18, was convicted Tuesday of one misdemeanor count of battery by a prisoner in connection with the June 2024 incident at the Lincoln Hills-Copper Lakes School near Merrill. He was found not guilty of reckless homicide in the death of Corey Proulx. Sentencing is scheduled for Friday, according to court records cited by WTAQ-WLUK.
Court documents say Hurd, who was 16 at the time and was charged in adult court, became upset with a female counselor, threw soap at her and punched her. Proulx followed Hurd into a courtyard to stop him, was punched several times, fell and struck his head on the pavement, and later died.
Another inmate, Rian Nyblom, pleaded guilty in connection with the incident to two counts of being a party to battery and was sentenced in August to five years in prison.
Prosecutors said Nyblom knew Hurd planned to confront the counselor and, shortly before the fighting began, obtained extra soap and conditioner from guards and secretly passed them to Hurd.
