Family releases video of black man’s last moments before death in Missouri prison

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Newly released video of a black Missouri man who prosecutors say was killed by security guards shows that nearly 10 minutes passed after he stopped moving before a nurse checked on him.

The attorney for Othello Moore Jr.’s mother and sister released surveillance footage Tuesday of the 38-year-old’s final moments before his death.

Four former employees have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Moore’s death in December 2023. Charges against the fifth were dropped, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said.

The criminal complaint alleges that guards doused Moore with pepper spray, placed a mask over his face and left him in a position that caused him to suffocate.

Moore’s mother and sister filed separate wrongful-death lawsuits.

On Dec. 8, 2023, the day of Moore’s death, surveillance video from the Jefferson City Correctional Center, released by attorneys for the Moore family, shows several male inmates stripped down to their boxers with their hands clasped behind their backs.

While standing handcuffed outside the door of his cell, a guard doused Moore with pepper spray, according to Cole County District Attorney Locke Thompson.

A video released by Moore’s family shows him being led away from other inmates. Guards held his hands as he dropped to his knees and eventually lay face down on the floor.

The guards then tied his legs together and put a mask over his face before strapping him to a cart in a semi-recumbent position, the video shows.

As Moore was restrained, the video shows Moore swaying back and forth but did not appear to struggle with the guards.

The guards told investigators that Moore disobeyed orders to remain silent and spat at them, although witnesses said Moore spat pepper spray out of his mouth.

Video security guards then took Moore to a locked cell, where he first tried to rise to a more upright position before falling back onto a tilted headrest.

His movements gradually slowed over about 20 minutes until he lay motionless, his head drooping to one side.

A nurse arrived about 10 minutes after Moore was still, calmly checked his pulse and moved his limp head. A nurse and another staff member briefly applied rapid compressions to his upper body before he was removed from the cell.

The attorney for the Moore family, Andrew M. Stroth, said at a news conference Tuesday that jail staff acted “without a sense of urgency.”

In a separate statement, Stroth said the video highlighted “the complete disregard for the sanctity of life, the willful indifference and failure to provide emergency medical treatment to Otel by medical personnel.”

Ten employees and contractors were fired in response to Moore’s death.

“We have taken and will continue to take the steps necessary to reduce the safety risks for everyone at our facilities,” the department said in a June statement after several former employees were charged with criminal offenses. “We take seriously our responsibility to create the safest possible environment and will not tolerate conduct or conditions that threaten the well-being of Missourians who work or live at our facilities.”

Pojmann said in an email Tuesday that body cameras are now being used at all maximum security facilities in the state.

Three former employees charged with second-degree murder in Moore’s death are scheduled to go on trial in January. The fourth is awaiting trial on December 11.