Family releases video showing final moments before black man’s death in Missouri prison

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A Missouri man who died after being placed in a spit hood and restrained at a Missouri prison lay motionless for about 10 minutes before a nurse checked on him, according to jail video released Tuesday.

In the video of Othel Moore’s final moments before her death in December 2023, the 38-year-old black man is seen covering his face with a mask, moving with his hands behind his back and his legs tied together as a guard watches from outside the cell.

Four former staff members at the Jefferson City Correctional Facility have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Charges against a fifth were dropped, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said.

The criminal complaint alleges that guards pepper-sprayed Moore, put a mask over his face and placed him in a position that caused him to suffocate.

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

Surveillance video provided by Moore family lawyers shows several detained men stripping down to their boxers with their hands cuffed behind their backs as guards filtered cells and belongings on Dec. 8, 2023, the day Moore died.

According to Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson’s office, a guard pepper-sprayed Moore while he was handcuffed just outside his cell door.

Video released by Moore’s family shows him being led away from other detained men. The guards held his arms as he fell to his knees, and he ended up lying face down on the ground.

In the video, guards are then seen tying his legs together and placing a mask over his face, tying him to a car in a supine position.

In the video, Moore can be seen rocking back and forth but does not appear to be struggling with guards.

Guards told investigators that Moore disobeyed orders to be quiet and spat at them, but witnesses said Moore sprayed pepper spray in his mouth.

In the video, guards are seen wheeling Moore into a locked cell; here Moore tries to push himself into a more upright position before falling into the reclined headrest.

His movements gradually slowed for about 20 minutes until he remained motionless, his head falling to one side.

About 10 minutes after Moore lay motionless, a nurse arrived, calmly checked his pulse and moved his limp head. The nurse and another staff member applied rapid compressions to his upper body for a short time before he was removed from the cell.

Moore family attorney Andrew M. Stroth said at a news conference Tuesday that jail staff acted with “no sense of urgency.”

In a separate statement, Stroth said the video highlighted “the complete disregard for the sanctity of life, deliberate indifference, and the failure of medical staff to provide emergency medical care to Othel.”

Ten staff and contractor employees were laid off in response to Moore’s death.

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

In an email Tuesday, Pojmann said body cameras are now used in all of the state’s maximum security facilities.

Three of the former employees charged with second-degree murder in Moore’s death are scheduled to go to trial in January. The fourth will be tried on December 11.