Five correctional officers charged in Jefferson City inmate death

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (KMIZ)

Five former correctional officers at the Jefferson City Correctional Center were charged Friday with murder, including in connection with the death of an inmate in December.

Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson announced in a press release the indictment of Justin M. Leggins, Jacob A. Case, Aaron C. Brown, Gregory H. Varner and Bryanne M. Bradshaw in the death of 38-year-old Othel Moore.

Moore entered prison in 2005 and served a 30-year sentence for domestic violence, drug possession, robbery, armed criminal action and violence against a prison inmate or employee.

His family is threatening to sue, alleging that guards failed to take the necessary steps to get him medical attention. The Missouri Justice Coalition has said Moore was excessively pepper-sprayed by the JCCC Emergency Response Team before a hood was placed over his head, his body was wrapped and he was strapped to a restraint cart. The coalition said Moore was then placed in a dry cell in Housing Unit 8.

Four correctional officers were fired following an internal investigation, but their names were not released at the time.

Four suspects are charged with aiding and abetting assault and premeditated murder. The fifth, Bradshaw, is charged with manslaughter.

A probable cause statement said Leggins sprayed Moore, who was handcuffed, with pepper spray without provocation. Leggins reportedly told investigators that Moore approached him quickly, but surveillance video contradicts that statement, the statement said.

Case is accused of pepper-spraying Moore a second time and handcuffing him, according to a probable cause statement. Moore’s autopsy revealed that he choked on his stomach contents after being handcuffed, according to the probable cause statement.

A probable cause statement states that Brown placed a mask on Moore’s head, contributing to his death.

Varner was the leader of the CERT team that placed Brown in restraints after he was sprayed with pepper spray, resulting in his death, another statement said.

Bradshaw supervised the housing unit where Moore was taken after he was restrained, according to the statement filed in her case. She did not let medical personnel or anyone else check on Moore until it was too late to save him, the documents say.

Several witnesses heard Moore screaming that he was in medical distress, Thompson wrote in a press release.

Only Bradshaw was in custody on Friday afternoon.