Teen charged in connection with a Wisconsin prison counselor’s death pleads not guilty

MERRILL, Wis. (AP) — A teenage inmate charged in connection with a Wisconsin youth prison counselor’s death this summer has pleaded not guilty to a pair of felony counts.

Ryan Nyblom, 17, pleaded not guilty Thursday to being a party to felony murder and being a party to battery by prisoners in connection with Lincoln HIlls-Copper Lake Schools counselor Cory Proulx’s death in June, online court records show.

According to prosecutors, a 16-year-old inmate who was upset at a female counselor whom he felt was abusing her power threw soap at her, punched her and then punched Proulx, who fell and hit his head on the pavement. He later died.

Prosecutors allege that Nyblom gave the 16-year-old the soap he allegedly threw at the female counselor, and that Nyblom knew the 16-year-old was upset with her and wanted to attack her, according to a criminal complaint.

Nyblom’s attorney, Joseph L. Bauer, didn’t immediately respond to a Thursday voicemail and email seeking comment.

The 16-year-old faces one count of first-degree reckless homicide and two counts of battery by prisoners. He has been charged as an adult but The Associated Press is not naming him because his attorneys could seek to move the case back into juvenile court, where proceedings are secret.