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.