(LEX 18) — For the past several months, LEX 18 has reported on the deaths of five Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex inmates: 37-year-old Robert "Tony" Broyles, 27-year-old Ryan Rayburn, 49-year-old Marcus D. Gray, 33-year-old Danny Morgan, and 48-year-old Marvin Knuckles.
All five men died at the EKCC in the last seven moths.
"I'm a firm believer that Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex needs a makeover from top to bottom," said former EKCC inmate and grievance counselor Chad Ludwick. "Because you can't stop an officer from doing something when they're getting orders from somebody higher than them."
Ludwick worked as a grievance counselor for inmates, including Broyles and Rayburn, from May until December 2025 while he served time at EKCC.
With a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and an associate's degree in paralegal studies, Ludwick said that he understands inmate's rights. According to him, Broyles was denied a transfer despite meeting the requirements.
"You have to have six months clear conduct meaning no disciplinary reports to even move," Ludwick said. "Mr. Broyles had more than enough clear time to move. But they denied him."
Ludwick also knows what's happening behind the walls of EKCC, including what he describes as ill treatment and concerning deaths.
Kentucky State Police reports that Rayburn was strangled to death in his cell by his cellmate, Jeremy Brooks. Brooks was in prison for charges of complicity to murder and complicity for robbery stemming from an incident in 2008.
Ludwick provided LEX 18 with the original occurrence reports from EKCC nurses and officers, and the investigation report from December 2025. Documents reveal that there are discrepancies regarding time in the reports.
According to one of the nurses incident reports, Brooks was seen by nurses at 1:15 p.m. for a punch knot on the back of his head, Rayburn was found unconscious in his cell at 1:45 p.m. and CPR was administered, and EMS arrived on scene at 1:58 p.m. to apply a LUCAS device.
However, the investigation report reads differently. It details Brooks exited his cell at 1:23 p.m., Rayburn was found unconscious at 1:43 p.m. and CPR was administered, and EMS did not arrive until 2:02 p.m.
Ludwick said that the originally written times in several of the officers reports from September have also been whited out to read 1:50 p.m. regarding the time when officers responded to Rayburn's cell in Dorm 8, complicating things even more.
He's now questioning the inconsistencies of the reports, and wants to know why it allegedly took officers 30 minutes to check on Rayburn after Brooks was seen by nurses.
"Now the occurrence reports are supposed to be a legal document, could be used in court, and when they whited it out and it's clear the person who wrote report wasn't the same person who corrected the time," he said. "That was a huge red flag."
Ludwick wishes the commissioner and warden would take action and investigate; for him, the problem goes beyond the officers on the floor.
He now wants those who oversee the prison, including Governor Andy Beshear, to make sure those responsible are held accountable.
"Imma keep going until they get answers," Ludwick said. "That is my number one goal, I promised Ms. Elgin and also Rayburn's family that I would continually be there for them. And just like I continually help people that are still incarcerated there, I'm still gonna keep fighting because they always say justice is blind...one thing that can't be blind is justice."
