Former deputy jailer gets 10 1/2 years in inmate beating death

HAZARD, Ky. – A former Kentucky jailer accused of beating an inmate who later died has been sentenced to 10 1/2 years in federal prison.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that 40-year-old Damon Wayne Hickman was sentenced Wednesday in connection with the 2013 death of 54-year-old Larry Trent, who was being held at the jail in Hazard on a DUI charge.

Prosecutors said two deputy jailers beat Trent after he ran out of his cell and that they then left him bleeding on the floor.

Hickman pleaded guilty in November 2016 to three charges in the case and testified against the other deputy jailer, 60-year-old William Curtis Howell, in the case. Howell was convicted in May and has yet to be sentenced.

Hickman must serve at least 85 per cent of his sentence.

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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com