Inmate charged in former Jefferson City prison guard’s beating

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Missouri prison inmate was charged last week with assault after allegedly beating a prison guard and causing severe injuries in July at Jefferson City Correctional Center.

Gavin Syring, a former Jefferson City inmate who was moved to Potosi Correctional Center last week, was charged Friday in Cole County with first-degree assault. He is serving an 18-year prison sentence for armed robbery, assault, armed criminal action and burglary, according to online Department of Corrections records.

The wife of former prison guard Kent Riley sued Syring last week for the attack that left Kent Riley unable to work.

The lawsuit says Syring attacked Riley when Riley ordered him to lock down in his cell. Riley suffered "severe and permanent injuries to his head, brain, side, and hip, and spent six days in a coma and on life support," according to the lawsuit. It's unknown if or when he'll be able to work again, the suit says, and his wife is now his caretaker.

Video showed Syring knocking Riley to the ground and repeatedly hitting him in the head, according to a probable cause statement. Syring admitted to hitting Riley several times, the statement says.