Ohio Guard Killed by Prisoner in Christmas Day Attack
On December 25, 2024, Ohio prisoner Rashawn Cannon, 27, was accused of killing Ross Correctional Institution guard Andrew Lansing, 62. Annette Chambers-Smith, Director of the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC), said that Cannon veered off from a group headed to the dining hall and found Lansing alone in a prison yard guard shack, where the fatal attack took place. However, she added, no weapons were involved. She also denied that the prison was understaffed.
Lansing had recently written two disciplinary tickets for the prisoner. One in April 2024 was issued for yelling and making threats on the phone. The other was issued a month earlier for having homemade alcohol and “K2” synthetic marijuana in his cell. Those were two of 11 disciplinary actions taken against Cannon since December 2023.
Family members of other Ross prisoners contacted DRC with allegations that guards were engaged in abuse and neglect. However, a Correctional Institution Inspection Committee found no evidence of abuse during a visit on December 29, 2024. Complaints of meals served cold in brown bags were also verified only on the day of Lansing’s killing and during a planned shakedown three days later. Unsurprisingly, additional complaints of denied showers were also difficult to verify.
Lansing had worked at Ross from 1994 to 2007 and again since March 2013. After his death, Cannon was transferred to Southern Ohio Correctional Facility to continue serving sentences for assault and weapons convictions while awaiting charges for Lansing’s killing.
Sources: Columbus Dispatch, WBNS, WKYC, WSYX
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