Family releases video showing moments before black man's death in Missouri prison

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man who died after being placed in a spit hood and held in a Missouri prison was motionless for nearly 10 minutes before a nurse examined him, according to a report released Tuesday Prison video shows.

Video of the finale shortly before Othel Moore's death in December 2023 shows the Black 38-year-old dragging himself with a mask over his face, his hands behind his back and his legs tied together as a guard watches from outside the cell.

Four former Jefferson City Correctional Center employees have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Charges against a fifth have been dropped, said Karen Pojmann, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.

A criminal complaint alleges that guards sprayed Moore with pepper spray, placed a mask over his face and left him in a position where he suffocated.

Moore's mother and sister separately filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Surveillance video provided by Moore family attorneys shows several detained men stripped to their boxers and with their hands tied behind their backs as guards stand in cells on Dec. 8, 2023, the day Moore died and search through belongings.

According to Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson's office, a guard sprayed handcuffed Moore with pepper spray just outside his cell door.

A video released by Moore's family then shows him being led away by the other detained men. Guards held his arms as he fell to his knees, eventually lying face down on the floor.

As the video shows, guards then tied his legs and placed a mask over his face before strapping him to a cart in a lying position.

The video shows Moore swaying back and forth as he was restrained, but did not appear to have any problems with the guards.

Guards told investigators that Moore failed to follow orders to remain silent and spit on them, although witnesses said Moore spit pepper spray from his mouth.

The video shows guards then wheeling Moore into a locked cell, where he first tried to get into a more upright position before falling back into the reclined headrest.

His movements gradually slowed for about 20 minutes until he lay motionless with his head bowed to the side.

About 10 minutes after Moore became motionless, a nurse arrived and calmly checked his pulse and moved his limp head. The nurse and another staff member briefly applied quick compressions to his upper body before he was wheeled out of the cell.

The Moore family's attorney, Andrew M. Stroth, said in a news conference Tuesday that prison staff acted “without a sense of urgency.”

In a separate statement, Stroth said the video “underscored the medical staff's complete disregard for the sanctity of life, deliberate indifference and failure to provide emergency medical care to Othel.”

Ten employees and contractor employees were laid off in response to Moore's death.

“We have taken and will continue to take the necessary steps to mitigate safety risks for everyone in our facilities,” the department said in a June statement after criminal charges were filed against several former employees. “We take seriously our responsibility to provide the safest possible environment and will not tolerate any behavior or conditions that threaten the well-being of Missourians who work or live in our facilities.”

Pojmann said in an email Tuesday that body cameras are now used in all high-security facilities in the state.

Three of the former employees charged with second-degree murder in Moore's death have court dates scheduled for January. A fourth is due in court on December 11th.