Indicted Kentucky juvenile staffer has excessive force history

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. --A Kentucky juvenile detention employee who was indicted March 18 for allegedly falsifying records will be fired, in part because of his history of disciplinary issues, officials confirmed to 48 Hours' Crimesider.

Victor Holt was placed on special investigative leave on Feb. 26 for failing to conduct regular bed checks on 16-year-old Gynnya McMillen the night she died at the Lincoln Village Juvenile Detention Center. It was the third time since 2013 that Holt, a youth work supervisor, was suspended, according to personnel documents.

Holt was reprimanded in the previous incidents for using excessive force during an "unwarranted restraint" on Oct. 27, 2014, and for working at an adult jail for two months while on sick leave from the detention center in 2013.

In the 2014 incident, officials wrote that Holt used an "unwarranted restraint of a resident with excessive force," on a boy who was returning from the detention center's school hall to his detention center unit.

"While you were accompanying youth to his unit and with his hands held down at his side, without provocation you grabbed youth and threw him to the floor," an official wrote.

The boy "had displayed no aggression toward staff," the official wrote. He added that the "take-down technique ... grabbing youth and throwing him to the floor, was incorrect and not approved for use by the department."

The incident resulted in a three-day suspension without pay, which was handed down to Holt on Feb. 3, 2015. Holt also served one day of suspension for the 2013 sick leave violation.

In a statement to 48 Hours' Crimesider, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary John Tilley said he ordered Holt placed on special investigative leave last month.

"He since has been notified that we intend to dismiss him," Tilley said. "During my three months as Secretary, I've been clear that employees are expected to uphold the highest standards of conduct, and we will continue reviewing policy at the Department of Juvenile Justice for areas of improvement."

Holt and former Lincoln Village staffer Reginald Windham were indicted on misdemeanor official misconduct charges on March 18. Windham was also dismissed from his job at the detention center in February, after his own history of excessive force was discovered.

That both Windham and Holt had histories of excessive force is frustrating to McMillen's sister, LaChe Simms.

"Just because someone has the credentials to get a job, does not mean they are mentally fit for it," Simms said. "I don't believe that this is just a problem in that specific facility. The whole system is messed up."

Officials said on March 18 that four other employees have been placed on special investigative leave, suspended or resigned, as a result of the internal investigation following McMillen's death. The teenager passed away Jan. 11, during the one night she spent at Lincoln Village, circumstances which led to vigils, petitions and widespread calls for answers related to her death. Donna Stewart, a state medical examiner's office pathologist, said on March 16 that the Mayo Clinic determined McMillen had Inherited Long QT Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can cause cardiac arrhythmia, also known as an irregular heartbeat.

In previous interviews with 48 Hours' Crimesider, Ron Hillerich, an attorney representing McMillen's mother, said he plans to hire independent experts to examine the girl's autopsy. Officials said nearly 60 hours of video surveillance footage would be released to McMillen's family after the Kentucky State Police and Hardin County prosecutors completed their investigation. It is not clear if that video footage has been released yet.

McMillen was brought to the ground by staffers using an "aikido restraint" and held there for four minutes and 15 seconds as a pat down was conducted. Officials said the initial restraint was recorded, but McMillen was brought down behind a counter, which obscured the camera's view of her while she was on the ground. Employees could be seen on camera during that time, officials said.

Medical examiners determined the restraint did not factor in McMillen's death, but Simms criticized the use of restraints and other facility policies.

"They have a military mentality and they're working with kids who need help," Simms said. "They did not come to her softly, because she's never been in a place like this in her life."