Six current or former Green Hill School inmates had preliminary hearings in Lewis County Superior Court last week for offenses that allegedly occurred within the facility between July 2021 and December 2023.
The cases were filed in December 2023, according to court documents.
The most recent offense charged was a “major youth incident” involving “different groups of inmates” that occurred on either Nov. 2 or Dec. 4 of 2023, according to court documents.
Charging documents listed the date of the incident as “on or about” Dec. 4, 2023, while the affidavits of probable cause documents filed with the cases list the incident date as Nov. 2, 2023.
On Friday, three inmates, identified as Jakwaun Shannon, 19, Myshaun O. Coleman, 18, and Rigoberto Sanchez, 19, had preliminary hearings on prison riot and custodial assault charges stemming from the incident.
Sanchez is accused of attacking another inmate who was “repeatedly punched and kicked” during the attack and sustained “what appeared to be a broken nose,” on the northern side of the facility, according to court documents. Sanchez allegedly struck two Green Hill staff members during the attack. He faces one count of prison riot and two counts of custodial assault.
Shannon and Coleman were allegedly involved in another fight on the east side of the facility. Coleman was allegedly “involved in a fist fight” with another inmate and “both ended up on the ground fighting,” at which point Shannon and another inmate allegedly “jumped in and quickly began fighting each other before everyone was separated,” according to court documents. Shannon allegedly struck a staff member during the altercation.
Shannon and Coleman each face one count of prison riot.
The other three cases that had preliminary hearings in Lewis County Superior Court this week involved alleged possession of drugs or contraband within the facility between 2021 and 2022.
Those cases all stem from a series of incident reports Green Hill sent to the Centralia Police Department in September of 2023 after Joint Narcotic Enforcement Team (JNET) detectives executed a search warrant at the facility and seized evidence related to the possession and distribution of illegal controlled substances at Green Hill.
During the execution of the search warrant on Aug. 31, JNET detectives reportedly located lockers where Green Hill staff stored contraband found within their facility dating back to 2017, including illegal controlled substances, cellphones, vape pens, improvised knives, handwritten documents arranging illegal drug transactions, and hand tools, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
In the incident reports sent to the Centralia Police Department in September, Green Hill disclosed four separate instances where staff located contraband in an inmate’s possession.
Staff reportedly found a cellphone and two charging cords in a room occupied by Michael Jeavoni Smith, 22, on Sept. 29, 2022, according to court documents. He faces one count of possession of a cellphone by a prisoner, which is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Shaquille Woods, 25, allegedly had a cellphone, a charging adapter and a charging cord in his room when staff searched it on July 8, 2021, according to court documents. He faces one count of possession of a controlled substance while in a correctional facility, which is a class C felony.
On April 28, 2022, staff reportedly located a THC vape pen inside a backpack belonging to Troy Lee Justice Jr., 19. He also faces one count of possession of a controlled substance while in a correctional facility.
All defendants have arraignment hearings in Lewis County Superior Court scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 18.
•••
To submit photos or news tips to The Chronicle’s newsroom, email news@chronline.com or call 360-736-3311.
