5 Corrections Officers Charged in Jefferson City Inmate Death

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KMIZ)

Five former corrections officers at Jefferson City Correctional Center were charged Friday with crimes including murder in the December death of an inmate.

The department that oversees state prisons says it is implementing reforms to help prevent future deaths.

Cole County District Attorney Locke Thompson revealed the charges against Justin M. Leggins, Jacob A. Case, Aaron C. Brown, Gregory H. Varner and Bryanne M. Bradshaw in a news release. They are charged with the murder of Othel Moore, 38.

Four suspects were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree assault and second-degree murder. A fifth, Bradshaw, was charged with involuntary manslaughter.

In addition to these criminal charges, Moore’s family also filed a federal civil lawsuit. Family representatives held a news conference Friday and called the allegations “unprecedented” and a “watershed moment in America,” comparing his death to George Floyd’s.

“This is George Floyd 3.0 in prison,” said Andrew M. Stroth, managing director of Action Injury Law Group. “Othel Moore, like George Floyd, was beaten. Othel was pepper sprayed and they put a mask on his face. They placed him face down and electrocuted him using electric gloves. The entire time before he died, Othel was screaming, “I can’t breathe.”

Lawyers for Moore’s family called the five officers charged Friday a “terrorist unit that tried to intimidate other inmates.” They say Moore’s death happened in broad daylight in full view of other inmates, and they are seeking the release of surveillance footage.

“People who were sworn to protect and serve prisoners killed a prisoner,” said Steven Hart, associate counsel for the law firm of Hart McLaughlin and Eldrige. “They did so with a depraved heart and in cold blood.”

Moore was sent to prison in 2005 and was serving a 30-year sentence for domestic assault, drug possession, robbery, armed criminal action and violence against a prisoner or employee. His sister Oriel says the family is still hurting.

“We haven’t seen my brother here since he was a baby. He won’t be able to live his life,” Oriel said. “He doesn’t even know what it means to be a grown man.”

The Missouri Justice Coalition said Moore was excessively pepper-sprayed by the JCCC Emergency Response Team before his head was covered with a hood, his body wrapped and he was tied to a restraint gurney. The coalition said Moore was then taken to a dry cell in Housing Unit 8.

Four corrections officers were fired after an internal investigation, although their names were not released at the time. The investigation was conducted by the Cole County Sheriff’s Office.

Moore’s final autopsy documents, obtained by ABC 17 News, indicate the cause of death was asphyxiation due to stomach contents entering the lungs.

A probable cause affidavit says Leggins pepper-sprayed a handcuffed Moore for no reason. Leggins allegedly told investigators that Moore quickly moved toward him, but surveillance video contradicted that story, the affidavit said.

Case is accused of pepper spraying Moore again and using restraints on him, according to a probable cause statement. Moore’s autopsy determined he died from choking on stomach contents after being restrained, according to a probable cause statement.

Varner was the head of the CERT team that applied a tourniquet to Brown after he was pepper-sprayed and killed, according to another statement.

Bradshaw supervised the housing unit where Moore was placed after he became restrained, according to an affidavit filed in her case. She had no medical staff or anyone else to check on Moore’s condition until it was too late to save him, according to the documents.

Multiple witnesses heard Moore shouting that he was in ill health, Thompson wrote in a news release.

The Missouri Department of Corrections said in a statement that it has discontinued the use of restraints that Moore was equipped with before his death. The department said it has “begun” to implement body-worn cameras in some areas of its maximum-security facilities, starting with Jefferson City Correctional Center.

“We take seriously our responsibility to create the safest environment possible and will not tolerate behavior or conditions that endanger the well-being of Missourians working or living in our facilities,” the Department of Corrections said in a statement.

Only Bradshaw remained in custody Friday afternoon.