Fired Missouri Guards Charged with Murder in Prisoner’s Suffocation Death
Five former Missouri prison guards were charged on June 28, 2024, in the death of prisoner Othel Moore, Jr. at Jefferson City Correctional Center in December 2023. Four guards were charged with second-degree murder and a fifth with accessory to involuntary manslaughter.
Moore, 38, suffocated after guards Justin Leggins, 34, Jacob Case, 31, Aaron Brown, 24, and Gregory Varner, 34, handcuffed him behind his back and pepper-sprayed him in the face, putting him then in a spit hood and leg wraps and securing him in restraint chair. All four were fired in February 2024, and Warden Doris Falkenrath was also replaced the following June, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Aug. 2024, p.43.] A fifth guard on-hand when Moore died, Bryanne M. Bradshaw, 25, was charged with second-degree involuntary manslaughter, according to Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson.
On the same day the guards were charged, a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Moore’s family in federal court for the Western District of Missouri alleged that the fatal brutality shown him reflected a “pattern and practice of racist and unconstitutional abuse” toward Black prisoners like Moore. One of the family’s attorneys, Andrew M. Stroth of Action Injury Law Group in Chicago, called Moore’s death, “George Floyd 3.0 in a prison.”
Events preceding his killing are tragically far too common. During a contraband search, Moore was restrained and pepper-sprayed despite apparently complying with orders; surveillance video contradicted guards’ claims that Moore was aggressive or posed a threat before he was spit-hooded and shackled in a restraint chair. He was then left unattended for 30 minutes, calling for help and saying he could not breathe. But no medical attention was provided until he became unresponsive; his death was ruled a homicide blamed on positional asphyxiation.
In addition to Stroth, Plaintiffs are represented in their suit by attorneys with Embry Law LLC in Kansas City, Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge LLC in Chicago and another attorney from that city, James Ormond. See: Scott v. Precythe, USDC (W.D. Mo.), Case No. 2:24-cv-04107.
The state Department of Corrections (DOC) claimed that the restraint system in which Moore died was designed for safety, but its use has since been discontinued. In addition to the four fired guards, six other prison employees and contractors involved in the incident are no longer employed by DOC, which also rolled out body-worn cameras for guards in high-security units to enhance accountability.
Incarcerated as a teenager, Moore had been locked up for more than 18 years and was serving a 30-year sentence for second-degree domestic assault, first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and possession of a controlled substance. All five former guards pleaded not guilty to charges in Moore’s death; only Bradshaw was granted bond and freed to await trial.
Additional sources: AP News, Kansas City Star, New York Times, US News
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