When LEX 18 first got word of the deaths of Robert Broyles and Ryan Rayburn at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, it was concerning. Kentucky State Police are investigating the two inmates who were strangled to death by their cellmates about a month apart.
Then in January, investigators say another inmate, Marcus Gray, was beaten to death.
At that point, we knew we needed to start asking questions. LEX 18 filed an open records request to find out what complaints had been made against the prison.
In late February, the records sent back showed 21 reports filed against EKCC employees in 2024, and 23 reports filed in 2025.
In 2024, EKCC sent dismissal letters to eight employees for reasons ranging from use of force, assault, sexual contact, and drug use.
One of the letters, dated May 20, 2024, reads that a correctional sergeant was dismissed from duty after he entered a cell on April 22, 2024, and placed an inmate having suicidal thoughts in a restraint chair. The sergeant drive-stunned the inmate in the shoulder twice after telling the inmate to stop moving.
The 2024 documents also showed that seven EKCC employees were suspended for assault and other reasons, and six had written warnings for misconduct.
In 2025, reports LEX 18 obtained show three EKCC employees were dismissed for reasons ranging from use of force and drug use while on the job. Additionally, 13 EKCC employees were suspended, six had written warnings, and one was demoted.
In one of the reports dated March 12, 2025, an administrative specialist senior was suspended for one day after using a racial slur and saying, "I don't have to tell that n— anything" when talking about another staff member on Feb. 17, 2025.
On May 29, 2025, an EKCC document reads a correctional lieutenant was suspended for 20 days for falsifying a urinalysis report. The officer doctored the report to show the inmate tested positive for buprenorphine when no such test had been conducted.
The document reads the lieutenant told the inmate if he disclosed the location of the contraband, his disciplinary for possession of the drug would be dismissed.
The dozens of documents LEX 18 examined reveal a culture of disciplinary actions and dismissals against EKCC employees for alleged wrongful actions.
Chad Ludwick is a former grievance counselor with the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex and a former inmate.
"While I was at Eastern, I have seen a lot of different things and I have experienced a lot of different things," Ludwick said. "This is personal experience. Whether it be from racism to how the officers talk to you and try to handle you."
Ludwick describes the moment his own medical emergency was almost ignored.
"I was an epileptic, I had a seizure upstairs and we were- it was during one of the lock downs. I had to get the laundry man to get the officers attention and as I'm in and out of it. They say 'Hey, is he even epileptic, why don't we go check his chart.' So before I received any medical attention, they went to go check my chart to see if I was even epileptic," Ludwick said.
Ludwick says regardless of their sentence, every inmate deserves humane treatment.
"That I understand that we are inmates. We did a crime, and that we are judged for it and we did time for it. But I'd also like to say that we can still come out and be productive citizens. I got out and within a month, I got a job, a place to live, and a car," Ludwick said.
Ludwick says he hopes these stories will push Governor Andy Beshear to do a deeper investigation into the facility, and make sure those overseeing it take accountability.
Find more of our coverage on the EKCC here.
