Video shows man restrained, trying to breathe, minutes before dying in Missouri prison
Video released Tuesday showed a Missouri prisoner who had been restrained and placed in a cart with a hood over his face minutes before he died.
Othel Moore Jr., who was incarcerated at Jefferson City Correctional Center, died Dec. 8, 2023, at 38 years old. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by positional asphyxiation.
During a news conference Tuesday, attorneys representing Moore’s family played surveillance footage from the facility showing Moore and the response by staff they criticized as being nonchalant and delayed.
“Let’s be clear, this is one of the biggest civil rights prison death cases in America,” said Andrew Stroth, one of the attorneys representing the family. “Similar to George Floyd, Othel was crying out, screaming out, ‘I can’t breathe,’ while being witnessed by inmates and others at the facility.”
Steven Hart, another attorney for the family, said after Moore and others were pulled from their cells for searches, Moore had reminded officers that he required a “double cuff” for restraint because of the size of his wrists and forearms. Officers at that point pepper-sprayed Moore and put a spit-hood and a helmet on him, restrained him in a cart and then sprayed him again as he was being moved, Hart said.
The video showed Moore being loaded into the cart and then wheeled into a room where he was left for about 30 minutes.
Over that period, Moore appeared agitated and gradually slumped over. Footage showed staff occasionally looking in on him from outside the room. Eventually, a nurse entered the room to check on Moore and a few minutes later, about 38 minutes after he was wheeled in, corrections staff entered and pushed the cart he was still restrained on out of the space.
“Surely this is most people’s worst nightmare, being unable to move, mummified, shackled, with a hood over your face and mouth and head and being unable to breathe and slowly gasping for your last breath, knowing no one’s going to come to your aid,” Hart said. “Can you imagine what those last moments were like for Othel?”
Attorneys criticized the delayed response by corrections workers as well as staff with Centurion Health, the facility’s medical provider.
Centurion Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
“What you just saw on that video was bound to happen,” Hart said. “It’s the way that the Missouri Department of Corrections treats their inmates. It’s happened for years. ... It is the definition of cruel and unusual punishment.”
Karen Pojmann, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said the department “has taken appropriate action in response to the incident.”
Ten employees no longer work for the department.
Four corrections officers were charged with murder in Moore’s death in June in Cole County. Justin M. Leggins pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and third-degree accessory assault. Jacob A. Case pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and third-degree accessory assault. Aaron Brown was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree accessory assault. His arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 15, according to court records. Bryanne M. Bradshaw pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree accessory assault. A fifth case against a staff member has been dismissed.
Pojmann also said that the roll-out of body cameras in restrictive housing units is now complete and that the devices are being used at all of Missouri’s maximum-security facilities.
The department also discontinued the use of the restraint system Moore was placed in.
“We take seriously our responsibility for creating the safest environment possible and will not tolerate behaviors or conditions that endanger the wellbeing of Missourians working or living in our facilities,” the agency said in a previous statement on Moore’s death.
His family filed a federal lawsuit in June.
Moore had been incarcerated for more than 18 years and was serving a 30-year sentence for second-degree domestic assault, first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and possession of a controlled substance.
Moore grew up in St. Louis and had a daughter, his family said.
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 5:02 PM.
