Video reveals new concerns about full-body restraint system and cause of Missouri inmate’s death

By Matt Flener

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    JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — Othel Moore Jr. could barely move his body in his final moments.

Newly released video shows the 38-year-old Missouri inmate was strapped into a full-body restraint system, commonly used in jails and prisons across nearly every state, called The WRAP.

Moore was also wearing a spit mask, rubber helmet, handcuffs, and leg shackles after being pepper-sprayed during a guard shakedown of prisoner cells at the Jefferson City Correctional Center on December 8, 2023.

Four former corrections officers are now charged with second-degree murder and other varying charges in his death. They have pleaded not guilty. New video, released Tuesday by attorneys representing Moore’s family, brings fresh perspective into the final moments before he died and raises new questions about the cause of his death.

“This is one of the biggest civil rights prison death cases in America,” said attorney Andrew Stroth.

Stroth is one of several attorneys representing Moore’s sister and mother in a 15-count federal civil rights lawsuit against Missouri Department of Corrections officials and the healthcare professionals responsible for inmate care that day.

“Similar to George Floyd, Othel was crying out, screaming out, ‘I can’t breathe,’” Stroth said.

Cole County prosecutor Locke Thompson later said Moore had shown no aggression or threats toward any officers before he was restrained, according to court documents.

NEWLY RELEASED VIDEO SHOWS OTHEL MOORE’S FINAL MOMENTS

The video shows Moore spending 23 minutes in an isolation cell in the WRAP restraint and cart, increasingly struggling to breathe until he stopped moving.

A prison guard assigned to watch him didn’t move from his nearby desk until three minutes later.

The guard eventually ambled up from the desk and spent the next 30 seconds staring at Moore.

He talked to other staff. He came back and stared again.

Other officers arrived and stared, too. They knocked on the door but didn’t enter. Moore’s family attorneys compared the guards’ actions to spectators at a zoo or museum.

It wasn’t until nine minutes later that a nurse finally arrived to check on Moore’s health.

The video does not show exactly when Moore stopped breathing after his last flinch.

But the lawsuit claims officers did not sound any emergency codes or alert other medical staff with urgency after noticing something was wrong.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CAUSE OF OTHEL MOORE’S LAST BREATHS

The cause of Moore’s lack of airflow, and ultimately his death, is the central question in the federal lawsuit filed in the Missouri Western District.

The newly released video also shows Moore’s limited movement in the WRAP system and cart, which is designed to keep both inmates and corrections officers safe.

Moore’s attorneys question how much control he had over his breathing due to the WRAP system. They also question the impact of other restraints, including handcuffs and leg shackles, as well as the mask over his nose and mouth, combined with the effects of pepper spray.

The guards’ nonchalant behavior toward Moore is also a central complaint in the lawsuit.

“I see deliberate indifference to a man’s humanity,” said Ben Stelter-Embry, lead attorney in the federal lawsuit.

Stelter-Embry, of Embry Law, spoke to KMBC 9 Investigates on Wednesday while reviewing the newly released video, also raising concerns about the use of the WRAP restraint system in prisons and jails.

“These restraints are to be used in situations where an inmate or even someone on the street is being aggressive,” Stelter-Embry said. Moore was not being combative, aggressive, or threatening, he said.

“Othel Moore had done nothing wrong,” Stelter-Embry said. “He should never have been placed in that room. He should never have been placed in the WRAP restraint system. He should never have been put on that cart. And he certainly shouldn’t have been left in a dry cell, unattended for 30 minutes.”

Stelter-Embry said he has multiple questions about the WRAP system’s use in Moore’s case and the effectiveness of full-body restraints in correctional settings.

“I think corrections officers need a lot more training on the use of these systems—when they should be used and when they’re warranted.”

The Missouri Department of Corrections said earlier this summer that it had discontinued the use of the restraint system used in Moore’s case. A spokeswoman also stated that the department has deployed body cameras.

MANUFACTURER DEFENDS WRAP SYSTEM’S USE IN CORRECTIONAL SETTINGS

Safe Restraints Inc. sells the WRAP system. Safe Restraints Inc. president and CEO Charles Hammond confirmed to KMBC 9 Investigates that his company’s system was used in Moore’s case.

He also told KMBC on Wednesday he had not seen the entire video of Moore’s death. He stopped short of saying whether Missouri corrections officers used the WRAP system properly. However, he said that his company leaders flew in to train Missouri Department of Corrections officials before its implementation in state institutions.

“I don’t know what happened before the application,” Hammond said about Moore’s case. “It would be very irresponsible to comment on that because I don’t know.”

Hammond said he was aware of two or three cases where the WRAP system had not been used properly in his 12 years of ownership of the system.

However, Hammond firmly defended the safety of his device and its role in de-escalating violent situations in correctional settings. He said corrections officers safely deploy the system up to 70,000 times per year.

“There is really not a safer restraint tool on the market today, just based on the safety track record,” he said. “There is no other tool that prioritizes short conflict. There is no other tool that prioritizes breathing like ours does, and no tool that prioritizes the ability to give care.”

Hammond pointed to a video on the front page of the company’s website showing a man saying and showing behavior that he was going to harm himself and fight officers.

“Without this tool, the fight would have been on,” he said. “Injuries would have been certain for all parties, damage to the vehicle would have been very possible, and a terrible outcome could have occurred.”

When questioned about Moore’s cause of death, listed in the lawsuit by the medical examiner as “positional asphyxiation,” Hammond again said he had not seen the entire video.

“Positional asphyxia is impossible by definition when somebody’s upright,” he said. Hammond claimed the WRAP promotes breathing by allowing somebody to sit up and lean back. He also invited KMBC 9 Investigates to see the WRAP system’s use in person. KMBC plans to take Hammond up on his offer in the coming weeks.

KMBC 9 INVESTIGATES EXPLORING USE OF RESTRAINTS IN JAIL, PRISON SETTINGS

The WRAP system is just one of several full-body restraint systems in correctional settings across the country. Restraint chairs are also commonly used.

KMBC 9 Investigates has embarked on a new Chronicle project exploring the use of restraint chairs and WRAP systems in Missouri and Kansas.

KMBC has requested restraint policies from every county in Kansas and Missouri, following a roadmap for data gathering by the Illinois Answers Project.

An investigation by The Illinois Answers Project found that from 2019 to 2023, statewide, staff restrained someone in a chair nearly every day, totaling more than 5,500 incidents. The investigation also explored the amount of time inmates spent in full-body restraints, including one mentally ill man restrained in a chair for 68 hours. You can read more of the investigation, starting here.

Initial data from KMBC’s open records requests show more than 60 percent of Missouri and Kansas jails have a policy regarding restraint chairs or WRAP systems.

Every county sheriff’s office in Kansas has provided its restraint policy to KMBC without charge.

Four county sheriff’s offices in Missouri—Greene, Crawford, Dent, and Jasper counties—have not waived fees for restraint policies.

Those counties have provided varying responses on reasons for the charges, most citing fairness in charging all requestors, even though Missouri’s Sunshine Law allows waiving fees when information is provided in the public interest.

KMBC has sent follow-up requests to all counties with policies for restraint chairs or WRAP systems, asking how often they are used.

Several counties have sent records without charge, while more are asking for hundreds or thousands of dollars in payment. One county estimated it would take more than $21,000 of work to research its use of the restraint chair over the past six years.

In Missouri and Kansas, there is no single oversight body requiring counties or correctional facilities to report the use of force with a restraint chair or full-body restraints, unlike in Illinois.

If you have a tip about the use of full-body restraint chairs or WRAP systems in jails or prisons, KMBC 9 Investigates would love to talk to you.

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