Criminal Law
Illinois State Prison Guard Pleads Guilty to Beating an Inmate to Death
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A state prison guard on Tuesday pleaded guilty to federal felony charges related to the 2018 beating death of an inmate at Western Illinois Correctional Center.
Willie Hedden, 42, of Mount Sterling, entered the plea to two counts of civil rights violations and one count of providing misleading information in the subsequent investigation of the May 17, 2018 injuries sustained by 65-year-old Larry Earvin.
Earvin was airlifted from the prison, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, and died five weeks later at a southern Illinois prison infirmary. An autopsy ruled the death a homicide due to blunt force trauma.
The two civil rights count each carry penalties of as much as life in prison.
