By John Green
The Hutchinson News
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Hutchinson Correctional Facility officer testified Monday about an unprovoked attack on her at the prison last year by a Liberal man serving time for murder.
Following the testimony by Officer Holly Seaver, District Judge Joe McCarville ordered Eddie E. Nunez, 29, bound over for trial on a single count of aggravated battery on a state correctional officer.
Seaver testified she had let Nunez out of his cell to empty his trash and, as he returned to the cell, it appeared he wanted to say something to her. Instead, he punched her in the eye, knocking her to the ground.
She told the court that she fled beneath a nearby stairway trying to escape, but he followed her and continued to hit and kick her.
Seaver, forced to cover her head and face as Nunez continued to hit and kick her on the ground, could not reach her radio. Another officer hearing her screams came to her aid.
After McCarville ordered Nunez bound over on the severity level 5 charge, Nunez pleaded not guilty and McCarville transferred the case to the Division 2 court for trial.
Nunez has been in prison since January 2006 on a conviction of intentional second-degree murder for the Aug. 1, 2005, stabbing death of Bobby Joe Vega, 19, also of Liberal.
Nunez pleaded no contest to stabbing Vega seven times behind a house in Liberal in a dispute over loud noise from a party. Under a plea agreement, Nunez received the mitigated sentence for the crime of 12 years, 11 months.
Prison records show his earliest release date as July 28, 2017, though he faces at least four more years if convicted on the current charge.