Colette Peters, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 13, 2023, that conditions in federal prisons have improved in the past year (Caspar Benson/Getty Images).
Four former Missouri correctional officers face murder charges and a fifth is charged with involuntary manslaughter for the December death of a man incarcerated at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.
Othel Moore, 38, was pepper-sprayed in the face multiple times, had his face improperly covered by a hood that blocked his nose and mouth and left unattended in a cell for more than 30 minutes, documents filed Friday in Cole County Circuit Court state.
Moore, who suffered from asthma, screamed at officers that he could not breathe as he was being transported to the cell, the documents state. He died on the morning of Dec. 8.
Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson charged Justin Leggins, 34, of Cadet, Jacob Case, 31, of Desloge, and Aaron Brown, 24, and Gregory Varner, 34, both of Park Hills, with second degree assault and second degree murder.