Crime
Four Missouri prison guards charged with murder, fifth with manslaughter in connection with death of black man
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Four Missouri prison guards were charged Friday with murder and a fifth with manslaughter in connection with the December death of a Black man who was pepper-sprayed, had his face covered with a mask and was left in a suffocating position while incarcerated, based on a criticism filed Friday.
A bunch of guards from the Department of Corrections’ Emergency Response Team were searching a housing unit for contraband items on Dec. 8, 2023, when 38-year-old Othel Moore Jr. was pepper-sprayed twice after which placed in a hood, leg bandages and a restraint chair, based on a news release from Cole County District Attorney Locke Thompson.
Moore was then moved to a separate housing unit, where he was left in a locked cell wearing a hood, a wrap and a chair for half-hour, based on Thompson and probable cause statements. Thompson said multiple people heard him say he couldn’t breathe.
Moore was eventually taken to the hospital wing, where he was pronounced dead. Thompson said the health worker ruled Moore’s cause of death as positional asphyxiation and his death was listed as a homicide. He confirmed the events were captured on prison surveillance.
“After reviewing all of the evidence, dozens of interviews and all of the reports, we determined that charges were warranted,” Thompson told The Associated Press.
The criticism charges Justin Leggins, Jacob Case, Aaron Brown and Gregory Varner with one count each of second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree assault. A fifth guard, Bryanne Bradshaw, has been charged with aiding and abetting manslaughter.
Thompson said those charged with murder face sentences of 10 to 30 years in prison.
Thompson said all five defendants are incarcerated. Multiple phone calls to numbers associated with the defendants and possible relatives weren’t returned Friday. Thompson said Case is the one person with a lawyer, but Thompson couldn’t discover the lawyer. A voicemail looking for comment from the corrections officers union was not immediately returned Friday.
Moore’s family attorney, Andrew Stroth, said Moore was bleeding from his ears and nose.
“There is a system, pattern and practice of racist and unconstitutional abuse within the Missouri Department of Corrections, and specifically at the Jefferson City Correctional Center,” Stroth said, adding, “This is George Floyd 3.0 in prison.”
After searching the cell for contraband items and stripping Moore to his boxer shorts, he was handcuffed behind his back and brought outside, based on testimony from Cole County Sheriff’s Office detectives.
According to the affidavit, Moore was ordered to stay silent. When he asked why, Leggins pepper-sprayed him.
“During a later interview with Leggins, he stated that he used pepper spray on the victim because he was not complying with commands to be quiet,” the detective wrote in the affidavit. “He then stated that he felt threatened because the victim turned toward him and ‘stepped’ or lunged at him.”
However, detectives wrote in a press release that the recording showed Moore only turning his head so he could speak.
Another officer, Case, sprayed Moore in the face a second time for what he said was a failure to comply, based on the affidavits. Officers then immobilized Moore’s legs using a restraint system referred to as WRAP UP.
The officers said they then put a spit mask on him because he was spitting at them, based on detectives. But other employees said Moore was spitting pepper spray from his mouth, based on the affidavits.
Detectives testified that multiple officers heard Moore scream for help after putting on the mask, and one officer heard Moore say he had asthma.
Moore was then taken to a different cell and was not checked on for one more 20 minutes, based on detectives. Department of Corrections staff didn’t evaluate or provide medical assistance to Moore until he lost consciousness, deputies wrote.
According to witness statements, Moore didn’t behave aggressively throughout the interrogation and followed commands.
On Friday, attorneys for Moore’s mother and sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officers and the Department of Corrections.
In a replica of the lawsuit released to the AP, Moore family lawyers described the Corrections Emergency Response Team, which worked with Moore, as “a group that uses coercive force to brutalize, intimidate, and threaten inmates.”
The lawsuit describes Moore’s death as part of a “systematic practice of instilling fear, inflicting pain, and using intimidation tactics.”
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The Missouri Department of Corrections issued a press release Friday saying Moore died in a restraint system that was intended to forestall injury to himself and others, and that the department had discontinued use of the system.
The corrections department also said that following a criminal investigation and its own internal review, 10 people involved in the incident “are no longer employed by the department or its contractors.”
The department said it “will not tolerate behavior or conditions that endanger the well-being of Missourians working or living in our facilities. The department has begun implementing body-worn cameras in maximum-security housing units in maximum-security facilities, starting with Jefferson City Correctional Center, to enhance both security and accountability.”
Oriel Moore, Othel Moore’s sister, said her family never had the possibility to see Othel Moore outside of prison after his childhood, which deepened their pain.
“He won’t be able to live his life, he doesn’t even know what it means to be a grown man because he’s been there since he was a kid,” Moore said. “He had plans. He wanted to be a productive member of society. He’s important. His life is important.”
Moore, who grew up in St. Louis, was serving a 30-year prison sentence for a number of charges.
The AP’s investigation into lethal force utilized by law enforcement documented dozens of deaths from 2012 to 2021 in which officers placed a mask or hood on someone before they died. But the devices were rarely cited as a cause or contributing factor.
Crime
Family of Texas Teen, accused of a deadly stab of another teenager on the track, collected over $ 150,000 via the online fundraiser
The collection of money for a teenager accused of a deadly stabbing of another teenager during a meeting at the Texas track last week has almost USD 200,000.
Launched by the family of Carmelo Anthony, a 17-year-old from Texas, who’s accused of stabbing Austin Metcalf, also 17, during an intensive meeting between them, Dajndo Fundraiser reached USD 160,000 from Monday morning.
According to Anthony’s lawyer, Deric Walpole, his client demands self -defense on this matter. Talking with NBC Dallas-Fort Worth On Friday, other than the prison, wherein Anthony was detained, Walpole said: “I know that my client said it was a self -defense. I have no reason not to believe it, but I have to develop facts, talk to people and find out what is happening before I made some statements about what I think.”
He added: “I have no reason to think that it was not a self -defense at the moment.”
On Wednesday, April 2, around 10 am local time, it’s claimed that Anthony stabbed Metcalf after Metcalf asked to depart a specific area during the rain delay at a sports event at the Kuykeyndall stadium in Frisco, in accordance with the NBC Dalls-Fort value. Anthony, a competitor in a competitive team, apparently sat under the tent of the Metcalf team to avoid rainfall when Metcalf asked him to depart. When Anthony didn’t follow Metcalf in order that he wouldn’t touch him, allegedly Metcalf caught Anthony’s arm, leaning Anthony, using a knife from a backpack to stab Metcalf in his chest from escaping.
Metcalf suffered a stinging wound in his heart and was recognized as deceased at the scene of the incident, despite the attempts to save lots of his twin brother.
“I put my hand on (his chest), tried to stop (bleeding), grabbed his head and looked into his eyes. I just saw his soul. And this also took my soul,” said Twin Hunter Metcalfa Fox News.
Anthony was arrested and accused of killing the first degree, and is currently being detained in the Collin County prison for a bond of USD 1,000,000, which his lawyer is trying to cut back. He hopes to interrogate bonds this week.
Teenager Apparently he said the police“It is not alleged, I did it” that he was lively in self -defense and asked if Metcalf can be tremendous. Anthony’s father said The New York Post That his son was “provoked”.
“He was not an aggressor. He was not the one who started him,” said Andrew Anthony, adding: “Everyone has already adopted their assumptions about my son, but he is not what they make him.”
He explained that his son was a “good child” who works two works and maintains 3.7 GPs.
“I feel sorry for other parents and family, and words cannot explain how both (families) affected this tragedy,” he noted.
The online collection of money causes “false” narratives circulating after the consequence.
“The widespread narrative is false, unfair and harmful. As a family of faith, we are deeply grateful for all your support in this difficult period. Your prayers and help mean more for us than ever,” we read a fundraiser.
Collecting money on Gofundme In the case of family costs and Metcalf’s funeral, they brought 95% of their goal.
(Tagstransate) news
Richmond, Virginia – June 12: photo of George Floyd expected to the statue of confederate general Robert Lee on June 12, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Last week, the governor of Virginia Ralph Northam ordered the removal of Lee’s general statue as soon as possible, but court proceedings temporarily stopped these plans. Protests proceed in cities across the country after the death of George Floyd, who died in police detention in Minneapolis on May 25. (Photo eze amos/getty images)
Giving police departments equipment to military class does not reduce crime or increase safety based on two independent research. Studies appear in the course of the ongoing conversation concerning the importance of “rejecting the police” as a method.
IN “Police demilitarization and brutal crime“, Kenneth Lwande, a professor on the University of Michigan, questioned the claim that the military weapon exchange program reduced the crime rate, assaulting police officers and the variety of complaints towards police officers.
Finding problems in previously published data Lwande focused on the information available after ordering the Obama administration from 2015, required to demlate local police agencies. Answering public indignation after exposing the militarized police in Ferguson, Obama’s administration Forbade some Sales of military equipment to the police as a part of the controversial program 1033. Trump’s administration reversed this policy in 2017.
IN interview In the case of ABC, Lwande explained that earlier research found that the transfer of military equipment to police plots served as deterrent. But from his evaluation, evidence does not confirm such conclusions. “It’s just not an accurate record,” said Lwande. “[Prior studies] They clearly suggested that by transferring military police equipment, he would stop criminals from committing crimes. “
Published in the character of human behavior, London magazine, research emphasizes the reaper of Trump’s administration on potentially “unbelievable” data when making decisions about withdrawing restrictions from Obama’s time. After assessing previous research, Lipowde found that publicly published data utilized in previous studies were filled with inaccuracies. Earlier evaluation did not control the equipment that was transferred between agencies, unused or otherwise inoperable. In addition, Lwande did not find any evidence that the demilitarizing law enforcement authorities led to an increase in crime.
Program 1033, managed by the Defense Logistics Agency, is one in every of several ways through which law enforcement authorities acquire military assessment equipment. Established in 1997 as a part of the Act on authorization for national defense, is estimated Program 1033 has transferred over $ 7 billion in military equipment into $ 8,000 across the country. The program was originally created for the forces of “counteracting terrorism”, but later prolonged to cover all of the activities of law enforcement agencies.
Covering with the national uprisings this summer, several members of the Chamber introduced laws to eliminate the 1033 program in June. The Black Lives movement also published Act Breathe Act, a comprehensive legislative proposal, including financing specific politicians and the abolition of the police. Section I of the proposed respiratory act requires the opening of the 1033 program in its entirety.
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