COLUMBIA, Mo. — A Missouri man who died after he was placed in a spit hood and restrained in a Missouri prison was motionless for nearly 10 minutes before a nurse checked on him, prison video released Tuesday shows. Video of the final the moments before Othel Moore's December 2023 death shows the Black 38-year-old heaving with a mask covering his face, hands restrained behind his back and legs bound together as a guard watches from outside the cell.
Four former staffers at the Jefferson City Correctional Center have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Charges against a fifth were dropped, Department of Corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann said. A criminal complaint alleges that guards pepper-sprayed Moore, placed a mask over his face and left him in a position that caused him to suffocate.
Moore's mother and sister separately filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Surveillance video provided by Moore family lawyers shows a number of incarcerated men stripped down to their boxers with their hands restrained behind their backs as guards filter through cells and belongings on Dec. 8, 2023, the day Moore died.
While standing handcuffed just outside his cell door, a guard pepper-sprayed Moore, according to Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson's office. Video released by Moore's family then shows him being led away from the other incarcerated men. Guards held his arms as he went down to his knees and eventually lay face down on the floor.
Guards then bound his legs .
