NEW ORLEANS — A federal jury has found a private company running a Louisiana jail liable for the 2015 death of a man who died from head injuries sustained while in custody. The jury awarded the family more than $40 million in damages.
Attorneys representing the family of Erie Moore Sr. say they believe this verdict, handed down this week in the Western District of Louisiana, is among the highest ever jury awards for an in-custody death in the United States.
“For the past 10 years, my sisters and I have been tormented knowing he is not resting easy,” said Erie Moore Jr., son of the deceased. “This trial has shined light where there was darkness. It has brought our family truth, justice, and peace.”
Moore was a 57-year-old mill worker and father of three with no criminal history. He was arrested on October 12, 2015, for disturbing the peace at a doughnut shop in Monroe, Louisiana. According to court filings, Moore became “agitated and noncompliant” while being taken into custody at Richwood Correctional Center.
His attorney, Max Schoening, stated that Moore was “mentally unwell” at the time he was detained. Schoening further revealed that guards pepper-sprayed Moore at least eight times during the 36 hours he spent in jail.
Court records, including jail security camera footage submitted as evidence and reviewed by The Associated Press, show Moore being forcefully taken down by several guards. Additional footage shows the guards picking up Moore by his legs and handcuffed hands; during which, when one guard stumbled, Moore’s head hit the ground.
Moore was then taken to a secluded area of the jail without security cameras. He was kept there, out of sight, for nearly two hours, during which no one called for medical assistance, according to court records.
“The jury found the guards continued to use excessive force against Mr. Moore in the camera-less area,” Schoening said. “When sheriffs from another law enforcement agency arrived to pick him up to transport him to another jail, they found him unconscious and completely unresponsive.”
By the time Moore arrived at the hospital hours later, he was already in a coma and died approximately a month afterward. The Ouachita Parish coroner ruled Moore’s death a homicide caused by the head injuries.
A federal jury found three guards liable for negligence, battery, and excessive force. The jury also held LaSalle Management Co., which operates Richwood Correctional Center, responsible for Moore’s death due to the negligence of at least one of its guards.
To date, no criminal charges have been filed in connection with Moore’s death, according to Schoening.
The jury ordered LaSalle and Richwood to pay $23.25 million in punitive damages and $19.5 million in compensatory damages to Moore’s three adult children.
“This is the largest compensatory damage award I have ever heard of,” said Jay Aronson, a Carnegie Mellon University professor and author of *Death in Custody: How America Ignores the Truth and What We Can Do about It.*
The City of Monroe contracted the Richwood Correctional Center facility as its jail from 2001 to 2019. LaSalle, part of the same business enterprise as Richwood Correctional Center, operates detention facilities across Louisiana and Texas, according to court filings.
Currently, Richwood Correctional Center serves as a federal immigration detention site. Last year, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency stated that LaSalle is an “important part of ICE’s detention system.”
LaSalle did not respond to requests for comment sent to its attorneys or spokesperson. The City of Monroe also declined to comment.
“Erie Moore Sr.’s life was a gift to his family and community. LaSalle Management Co. ended it with utter indifference,” Schoening said. “It is a testament to his children’s love, courage, and resilience that, in the face of enormous obstacles, they obtained justice for their father and a historic victory for civil rights in this country.”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/louisiana-jury-awards-40-million-family-man-died-126820003