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Irma, Wisconsin – A “beloved” youth counselor working inside a prison for underage criminals was killed in what reports allege was a brutal assault on staff members. For the crime, authorities charged a teenage Black criminal who claimed he did it because staff was “treating him unfairly.”
According to reports, the incident began Monday night at the Lincoln Hills, a youth corrections center for boys. That’s when 16-year-old Javaris Hurd, a Black inmate, threw a cup of soap and repeatedly punched a female staff member in the face.
According to a criminal complaint, Hurd is believed to have fled into the facility’s courtyard. This prompted 49-year-old Corey Proulx, a youth counselor at the facility, to follow him out in an attempt to detain him.
That’s when the Black teen attacked again, striking Proulx—who is White—numerous times, including twice in the face with “full force,” according to the complaint. Proulx is then said to have gone limp, slamming his head on the concrete as he fell. While Proulx lay incapacitated, Hurd scurried up a nearby basketball hoop and sat perched on top of it, watching the scene.
The entire incident was captured on security cameras, reports say, and Proulx was eventually airlifted to Aspirus Wausau Hospital in critical condition.
Reports state that by Tuesday night, Proulx—a “compassionate” White father and husband-to-be—was declared brain dead by the Lincoln County coroner. He later succumbed to his injuries.
During an interrogation, police say Hurd told them that he had a “built-up aggression” towards staff, particularly towards the unidentified female victim who was allegedly “abusing their power and treating him unfairly.” This led the Black criminal to orchestrate a premeditated attack against her, police say.
The way Proulx died closely mirrors the death of White teenager Ethan Liming, whose skull was cracked open after hitting the concrete following an attack by numerous Black men in Akron, Ohio, in 2022.
For the murder of Corey Proulx, Hurd is being tried as an adult, and is facing one count of second-degree reckless homicide, one count of felony murder, and one count of battery by prisoners. If convicted, he could be sentenced to over 55 years in prison and ordered to pay $120,000 in fines.
Authorities also charged a 17-year-old, Rian Nyblom, for his alleged role in assisting Hurd with the assault. They assert Nyblom—who is White—helped Hurd obtain a cup of soap earlier in the day, which was linked to the initial assault on the female guard.
‘It is with tremendous sadness and regret that I announce the loss of a dedicated professional, colleague, and friend in the line of duty,’ said Jared Hoy, Department of Corrections (DOC) secretary.
‘A career in corrections, with its dual mission to protect the public and guide individuals toward rehabilitation, can be demanding and requires so many sacrifices for our staff and our families, and Corey made the ultimate sacrifice. Our DOC family is mourning Corey’s loss, and we are keeping all of his family members and friends in our thoughts,’ Hoy continued in a news release.
Corey Proulx is remembered as a compassionate father, partner, and professional, leaving behind a daughter and a loving fiancee. His family says that his organs will be donated so that others may continue to live fulfilling lives.
The Lincoln Hills-Cooper Lake facility has long struggled with a lack of staffing, blamed for an increase in injuries, assaults, and even deaths. The prison currently has a vacancy rate of 12%, per the Wisconsin Department of Corrections website.
According to a report in 2023, only 50% of staff are present most days. Despite this, a court-ordered monitor reported that they “did not encounter a single staff member or youth who did not have a positive attitude…Staff and leadership’s commitment to youth and to this reform effort is evident in every aspect of the operation.”
In the past, staff at the prison have been hit with accusations of abuse by inmates. Some state legislators believe that it’s only a matter of time before more end up dead.
“I am finding it difficult to keep my anger at bay as I think about why this occurred, and how it was allowed to occur,” said Felzkowski, a district legislator, in a statement. “For far too long, I have been sounding the alarm that it was always a matter of when, and not if, a tragedy of this magnitude would occur at Lincoln Hills.”
In the United States, prisons, care facilities, and other institutions set up to provide care or custody for Black wards often become charnelhouses for American Whites and those who work them. In October, a rookie prison guard with six months on the job was brutally killed in a prison shank attack.
The victim, identified as White 42-year-old Robert Clark, was stabbed by a convicted murderer during a routine visit to the chow hall. For the crime, police charged Black 32-year-old Layton Lester, who is already serving a life sentence for murder in Glennville, Georgia.
Also in October, a White healthcare professional was found dead in the basement of a halfway house for sex offenders in Willimantic, Connecticut. According to reports, 63-year-old Joyce Grayson was brutally killed while working the shelter, with police arresting Black 38-year-old Michael Carlos Reese, a sex offender with “violent tendencies.”
In April, an “irreplaceable” social worker, Leah Rosin-Pritchard, was found hacked to death with an axe inside a Brattleboro, Vermont homeless shelter.
For the crime, police arrested a mentally ill Black transient with a history of violence. The murder was described as preventable, but despite having advanced warnings and previous instances of unhinged behavior, no actions were taken against the Black suspect.
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