MERRILL − An 18-year-old pleaded guilty April 24 to charges related to the June 2024 death of a corrections officer at Lincoln Hills School.
Rian W. Nyblom pleaded guilty to two counts of being a party to the crime of battery by a prisoner. One of the charges was reduced from a charge of felony murder with special circumstances as part of a plea agreement. Lincoln County Circuit Judge Galen Bayne-Allison dismissed an additional charge of battery by a prisoner.
The plea agreement does not include a recommendation for sentencing. Bayne-Allison ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled Nyblom’s sentencing for Aug. 6.
Nyblom’s codefendant, Javarius M. Hurd, 17, whose current address is listed as Madison, pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect April 9 to first-degree reckless homicide and two counts of battery by a prisoner. His next hearing is scheduled for May 5.
According to the criminal complaints, the two teens were incarcerated at Lincoln Hills School for boys when they were involved in the death of Corey Proulx, a 49-year-old guard at the school.
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On the evening of June 24, Hurd threw a cup of what he thought was soap in the face of a 25-year-old female guard who was standing inside the Krueger Living facility in the lower day room and courtyard area, according to the complaints. Hurd then attacked the guard and punched her repeatedly in the upper body and face area, according to the complaint.
Hurd ran into the courtyard where other youth were and Proulx followed him to stop him. When Proulx approached Hurd, Hurd hit him multiple times, according to the complaint. Proulx fell to the ground and hit his head on the pavement. Hurd then climbed up a basketball hoop and sat on the hoop overseeing the courtyard.
A helicopter took Proulx to a hospital where he died the next day, according to the complaint.
Hurd told investigators he planned to attack the woman and had asked Nyblom to get him a cup of soap, according to the complaint.
Nyblom told investigators Hurd was upset after receiving the result of a complaint he had filed against the female guard, according to the criminal complaint.
Nyblom said at about 7:30 p.m. June 24, he was getting his medication when he asked for a cup of soap. The Lincoln Hills staff keeps shower products in a booth and gives them to the youths as needed. Nyblom got a cup of soap and a cup of conditioner from staff. The female victim questioned Nyblom about having taken a shower earlier in the day, but Nyblom told her he had been playing basketball and was going to shower again, according to the complaint.
Nyblom washed his hair with the soap, but he did not use the conditioner he had gotten from the staff. At about 7:40 p.m., Nyblom sat down next to Hurd in the lower dayroom and set the cup of conditioner on a chair, according to the complaint. Hurd grabbed the cup, hid it inside another cup he already had and he and Nyblom both went outside and played basketball.
Nyblom said he knew why Hurd wanted the conditioner. They had come up with a plan to attack the first victim early in the day but abandoned the first plan, according to the complaint. They then came up with the idea of using the conditioner to “splash” at the guard and then start swinging without warning.
At about 7:45 p.m., the victim was standing inside the door and told Nyblom and Hurd to come inside. Hurd went inside first and Nyblom heard him swinging because he could hear the staff’s keys and other youth yelling, according to the complaint. Nyblom said Hurd came running out and ran toward the other end of the court.
Nyblom said Hurd tried to pull himself on top of the basketball hoop, but pulled himself past it and then let go. When Hurd let go, he started swinging at Proulx and continued swinging until Proulx fell.
Nyblom said he saw Proulx hit his head on the concrete and then just lay there. He also saw the female guard had a bloody nose.
An ambulance took the woman to Aspirus Merrill Hospital where she was treated and later released.
Contact Karen Madden at kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Teen pleads guilty in death of Lincoln Hills guard Corey Proulx