Lawyers for the family of a prisoner who died in a Missouri maximum security prison in 2023 after being pepper sprayed, covered in a spit hood and then tied to a restraint car, have released the gruesome video as part of a wrongful death suit against the facility staff.
In the hard-to-watch video, Othel Moore Jr., 38, is brought into his tiny cell already strapped down and covered by the hood.
The nearly 41-minute-long video shows Moore talking with various members of the facility, though due to the lack of sound, it is not clear what they are conversing about. Towards the end of the video, Moore is seen slumped to one side and not moving at all while a prison staffer sits at a desk across the room.
At one point, the guard gets up to check on Moore and stands in front of the cell, apprently trying to wake him up. The guard then turns back and converses with another officer before returning to the cell door. The officer is then joined by several other officers who peer in at the man.
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Toward the end of the video, several officers gather around the glass door before who cops enter the cells and examine Moore. At one point, one of the paramedics attempts to take his pulse and perform life-saving techniques, the two give up and roll the cart of the cell.
Rather than providing protection, these defendants collectively, and individually, saw to it that Moore suffered in the worst way possible before causing his death, the lawsuit,said. “The events were recorded on video and witnessed by many. This lawsuit seeks to expose the horrific circumstances surrounding Moores death and to hold accountable those responsible for his unwarranted, tragic, and preventable demise.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, names the director of the Missouri Department of Corrections and an additional 14 employees as the defendants. Karen Pojmann, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Corrections, told Law and Crime that, at the time, the department has already taken appropriate action in response to Moore’s death.
It was reported that after his death, the prison suspended the use of the restraint system and that the ten people involved in the incident were no longer employed by the department or its contractors. Pojmann also stated that four of the 10 staffers now face criminal charges in Moore’s death.
Before his death, Moore had been serving a 30-year prison sentence for second-degree domestic assault, first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and possession of a controlled substance. According to court documents, the man had died during a contraband search.
During a press conference announcing the video’s impending release, the family’s lawyers called the Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT) a “rouge unit.” The lawyer said that the team ignored his struggle to breathe, and left him to slowly and painfully suffocate.
So it started with an unconstitutional search and seizure, Andrew M. Stroth said.It ended with Othel handcuffed, Othel, legs shackled. Othel, blood coming out of his mouth, spit mask placed over his head, a helmet forced over his head.
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