JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Newly released video shows the moments before the death of a Missouri inmate who was heavily restrained for 30 minutes.
Othel Moore, 38, died in the Jefferson City Correctional Center in December 2023 while in a restraint system that the Missouri Department of Corrections has since discontinued.
Attorneys for Moore's family released the videos on Tuesday to prevent this from happening again.
The attorneys said it started with a jail sweep for drugs when Moore was pepper sprayed. It's unclear if the audio was recording during the videos, but civil rights attorney Andrew Stroth said Moore was pleading for help the entire time.
"Similar to George Floyd, Othel was crying out, screaming out, 'I can't breathe,''' Stroth said.
He was then handcuffed, legs shackled, and a spit mask and helmet were placed over his head before he was put in a restraint cart, taken downstairs and pepper sprayed again.
Moore was put in a cell without a toilet or water for 23 minutes; during that time, multiple people walked by, watching him through the glass.
"He was handcuffed and shackled; his feet were shackled, his hands were shackled behind his back. The nonchalant manner in which the guards observed Othel like a zoo animal behind glass, encased in straps in restraints, in helmets, in masks. Nobody should be treated in that fashion," said Steven Hart, civil rights attorney.
It took 33 minutes before nurses walked in to check on him. It's not clear what his exact time of death was.
"All he could do was verbalize that he could not breathe. 'Help me, I can't breathe.' They could not and did not respond to his pleas for help," Hart said.
Last week, the family's lawyers filed a federal complaint against the director of the Missouri Department of Corrections, the warden of the Jefferson City Correctional Center, the medical provider Centurion Health and more than a dozen jail employees.
"Being unable to move, mummified, shackled, with a hood over your face, mouth, and head, and being unable to breathe and slowly gasping for your last breath, knowing nobody will come to your aid. Can you imagine what those moments were like for Othel?" asked Hart.
Four former officers were charged with second-degree murder.
Ten people have been fired after investigations into Moore's death.
The Missouri Department of Corrections said body-worn cameras are now in use at all maximum-security facilities.