Four Missouri prison guards were charged with murder, and a fifth with accessory to involuntary manslaughter, in the death of Othel Moore Jr., a Black man who died in December. Moore was pepper sprayed, had his face covered with a mask, and was left in a position that caused him to suffocate, according to a complaint filed on Friday.
On December 8, 2023, the Department of Corrections Emergency Response Team was searching a housing unit for contraband when they pepper-sprayed Moore twice. He was then placed in a spit hood, leg wrap, and restraint chair. Moore was moved to another housing unit and left in the restraints for 30 minutes, during which multiple people heard him say he couldn’t breathe. He was later taken to the hospital wing and pronounced dead.
The medical examiner ruled Moore’s death as positional asphyxiation and classified it as a homicide. The incident was captured on prison surveillance.
Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson stated that after reviewing the evidence and interviews, charges were deemed appropriate. An attorney for Moore’s family, Andrew Stroth, claimed Moore had blood coming from his ears and nose and described the incident as part of a pattern of racist and unconstitutional abuse in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Guards Justin Leggins, Jacob Case, Aaron Brown, and Gregory Varner were charged with second-degree murder and being accessories to second-degree assault. Bryanne Bradshaw was charged with accessory to involuntary manslaughter. They could face 10 to 30 years in prison.
Moore’s family has filed a lawsuit against the officers and the Department of Corrections, describing the emergency response team as a group that uses coercive measures to brutalize inmates. The department stated that Moore died in a restraint system designed to prevent injury and has since stopped using that system. They also said 10 people involved in the incident are no longer employed by the department or its contractors. To improve security and accountability, body-worn cameras are being implemented in maximum-security facilities.
Othel Moore’s sister, Oriel Moore, expressed heartbreak over never getting to see her brother outside of prison and emphasized that his life mattered. Moore was serving a 30-year sentence on various charges.
Only one of the defendants, Jacob Case, had reportedly hired an attorney by Friday, according to Thompson. A request for comment from the corrections officers union was not immediately returned.