4 Missouri Prison Guards Charged With Murder in Death of a Black Prisoner

Four Missouri prison guards were charged with murder on Friday and a fifth with involuntary manslaughter for their roles in the death of a Black man who died last year after they pepper sprayed him, covered his face with a mask and left him in a restraint chair, the authorities said.

The man, Othel Moore Jr., 38, died of positional asphyxiation on Dec. 8 at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, according to court records, which list homicide as the cause of death.

The episode that led to Mr. Moore’s death occurred during a sweep by the Missouri Department of Corrections Emergency Response Team of one of the prison’s housing units that was being searched for contraband, according to court records.

Mr. Moore was searched and stripped down to his boxer shorts, and staff members used pepper spray on him multiple times and placed him in a restraint system with a spit mask, which is supposed to prevent spit from hitting others, and a padded helmet, records show. He was then taken to a different housing unit, where he was left in a cell with the spit mask, helmet and restraint system.

In a news release on Friday, the prosecuting attorney’s office said that Mr. Moore was left like this for about 30 minutes and that multiple witnesses said they had heard Mr. Moore “pleading with the corrections staff and telling them that he could not breathe.” According to court records, prison staff members did not check on Mr. Moore or provide medical assistance until he had “become unresponsive.” Mr. Moore, who was serving a 30-year sentence for convictions including robbery and domestic assault, was eventually taken to the prison’s hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Locke Thompson, the prosecuting attorney for Cole County, said that he could not comment on a pending case and added that there was surveillance video evidence that would not be publicly available until the case is closed.