A Lincoln County jury has acquitted 18-year-old Javarius Hurd of homicide in the 2024 death of Lincoln Hills youth counselor Corey Proulx, instead convicting him of a single felony battery-by-prisoners count while finding him not guilty on a second battery charge. Hurd, who was 16 at the time of the confrontation, now faces sentencing Friday morning with a maximum of six years hanging over him, including no more than three years behind bars.
What Happened In The Courtyard
According to court records cited by prosecutors, Hurd was upset with a female youth counselor he believed was abusing her authority, and he threw soap at her and punched her before running into an outdoor recreation area at Lincoln Hills School in Irma, as reported by Wausau Pilot & Review. Proulx followed Hurd to stop him, and prosecutors alleged that Hurd punched Proulx several times, causing him to fall and strike his head on the pavement. Proulx, 49, who served as a youth counselor at Lincoln Hills School, was declared brain-dead the day after the June 2024 incident and died June 25, 2024, one day after the confrontation.
Hurd was originally charged as an adult with second-degree reckless homicide, felony murder and two counts of battery by prisoners, according to jsonline.com. By the time the case reached trial, those charges had been downgraded to first-degree reckless homicide and the two battery counts, according to Spectrum News. Jurors ultimately found him not guilty of first-degree reckless homicide and not guilty of one of the battery counts, convicting him only on the remaining felony battery charge.
A Judge's Earlier Ruling Kept The Case In Adult Court
Lincoln County Judge Galen Bayne-Allison ruled in February 2025 that the prosecution would remain in adult court rather than move to juvenile proceedings, the same report from Wausau Pilot & Review notes. Sentencing is now scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday before Bayne-Allison in Merrill. The gaps in public reporting mean the full trial record, the defense's arguments, and the jury's reasoning behind the homicide acquittal remain undisclosed.
A Second Defendant Already Sentenced
Hurd was not the only teen charged in connection with Proulx's death. Rian Nyblom was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the death of the counselor, according to Fox11Online. Nyblom, 18, was previously convicted of two counts of battery by a prisoner and was also placed on five years of extended supervision, per that same account.
A Youth Prison Long Flagged For Problems
Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake Schools, located in Irma, is Wisconsin's youth prison and has been the subject of years of lawsuits and abuse allegations involving practices such as pepper spray, strip searches and restraints. An outside monitor reported that the facility had an approximately 35% staff vacancy rate in March 2024 because of unanticipated staff leave. Completed assaults on staff across Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake declined from 189 in fiscal year 2021 to 166 in fiscal year 2023, though Lincoln Hills still recorded 44 completed assaults during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2024, while Copper Lake recorded 106, according to the Wisconsin Examiner.
Wisconsin's youth correctional facilities have long been considered in need of reform, and plans to close both Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake School for Girls have been in the works since 2018 but have faced repeated delays, per jsonline.com's reporting. Proulx's death, and now Hurd's split verdict, arrive as that long-stalled closure effort continues to loom over the facility's future.
