The Associated Press

ASHLAND - Three former deputies at the Boyd County Detention Center have filed a federal lawsuit claiming they were fired in July because they cooperated with law enforcement officials investigating the beating death of an inmate.

The deputies - Gabbriela Zamudio of Ashland and Ron Hazlett and Wayne Malone, both of Catlettsburg - filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court in Ashland.

Jailer Bob Stevens disputed their claim. He said he fired the three because they bore responsibility for allowing an inmate to get outside the jail's secure perimeter and into the property room, where the inmate tried to steal cigarettes.

Ms. Zamudio was on duty at the jail March 17 when Chad Ray Boggess of Charleston, W.Va., was forcibly restrained and beaten by one or more other deputy jailers, according to the suit.

Mr. Malone was called in to work about 2 a.m. that day by Mr. Stevens, who instructed him to clean the cell in which the Boggess incident took place.

Mr. Boggess, 27, died April 11 in Kings Daughters Medical Center, 26 days after an alleged beating at the jail.

Former Deputy Jailer Robert R. Bob Price, 36, of Ashland, has been indicted on a federal charge of assault of Mr. Boggess and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted.

Mr. Price and two other former deputy jailers - Matt Daniels and Douglas Raybourn - also were fired.