On Thursday, prosecutors charged a second inmate in connection with a fight that left a counselor at a Wisconsin juvenile detention center brain dead.
Online court records show 17-year-old Rian Nyblom has been charged in Lincoln County District Court with participating in murder and assault and two counts of participating in assault by an inmate in connection with Monday’s fight at Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake Schools, the state’s juvenile detention center in Irma.
Online court records indicate Judge Galen Bayne-Allison set bail at $20,000 cash for Nyblom during his initial court appearance on Thursday. Nyblom’s attorney, public defender Jessica Fehrenbach, did not immediately respond to a message left at her office.
According to court documents, a 16-year-old inmate was angry with a 25-year-old female counselor who he said was abusing her authority. He threw soap at her, punched her and then punched 49-year-old counselor Corey Proulx, who fell and hit his head on the concrete sidewalk. He was declared brain dead Tuesday afternoon.
Lincoln County District Attorney Kristopher Ellis has charged the 16-year-old as an adult with second-degree reckless homicide, murder by a prisoner and two counts of assault by a prisoner. The Associated Press is not naming him because his attorneys could withdraw his case in juvenile court, where proceedings are secret.
According to the latest criminal complaint, Nyblom told investigators he knew the 16-year-old was angry with the female counselor and wanted to “sprinkle” her with conditioner and then hit her. Nyblom said about 15 minutes before the fight started, he received extra soap and conditioner from handlers and secretly gave it to the 16-year-old.
He said he didn’t see the 16-year-old hit the female counselor, but he watched as he punched Proulx and Proulx hit his head. He added that he saw the female counselor get a bloody nose, according to the complaint.
Nyblom is also currently facing disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property charges in Eau Claire. Prosecutors charged him in that case in May.
Proulx remained on life support Thursday. His family plans to harvest his organs for donation, Lincoln County Coroner Valerie Caylor said.
Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake is Wisconsin’s only juvenile detention center. The facility has been plagued by allegations of staff abuse of inmates, including excessive use of pepper spray, restraints and frisking. A court-appointed monitor currently oversees the facility.
