Family releases details of Missouri inmate who choked to death

The family of an inmate who died in a Missouri prison has said in a lawsuit that the man was “brutally murdered” by members of the correctional facility.

The family of Othel Moore Jr. has filed a lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Correction and the Jefferson City Correctional Facility after the 38-year-old died on December 8, 2023 in Jefferson City.

The family’s lawsuit states that Moore Jr. was “brutally restrained and mummified” by the defendants, named as members of the corrections center’s emergency response team.

It adds that they “ignored his struggle to breathe and slowly and painfully suffocated him.”

According to the lawsuit, the inmate, who was black, was pepper-sprayed and shocked by a type of glove used by officers in prisons to help inmates comply with the rules.

He was also reportedly restrained and given a spit hood – which prevents someone from spitting – as well as a helmet and leg bandages.

He was then allegedly locked in a restraint cart and isolated in a small, enclosed space known as a dry cell, the lawsuit adds.

It continues that Moore Jr. had repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe, and accused the defendants of ignoring his pleas.

The lawsuit notes that Moore Jr. “was left alone in a cell, deprived of the basic dignity of medical care and human attention. Moore should not have died. He just needed someone to care for him.”

It also claims that Moore Jr.’s death was not “an isolated incident, but rather the product of a systematic pattern of coercion, brutality, intimidation, reckless disregard and deliberate indifference that the highest officials of the Missouri Department of Corrections furthered.”

The lawsuit stated that these events were videotaped and “seen by many.” The lawsuit was filed on October 24.

In the video released by the family, guards can be seen hugging Moore Jr.’s arms. holding while kneeling on the ground and lying face down.

Then they tied his legs, covered his face and tied him in a cart. Moore Jr. didn’t seem to struggle with the guards.

Moore’s movements gradually slowed until he became motionless. Ten minutes later a nurse went to him and found him dead.

In a statement released by the Missouri Department of Corrections, the center said Moore Jr. died while “in a restraint system designed to prevent injury to himself and others.”

The department has reportedly discontinued use of the security system in which Moore was held since the incident of his death.

In the update shared in June 2024, the corrections center reported that the Cole County Prosecutor had filed felony charges against five former corrections staff members in connection with Moore’s death.

A total of 10 people were reportedly involved in the incident, and these individuals are reportedly no longer employed by the department or its contractors, the report said.

According to the Missouri Department of Corrections report, Moore was serving a 30-year prison sentence for convictions of second-degree domestic violence, possession of a controlled substance, two counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of armed criminal action and assault on an inmate or employee of the Department of Corrections.

Newsweek has contacted the Missouri Department of Corrections and one of the family’s attorneys via email for comment.

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