Things to know about the case of Missouri prison guards charged with murder in death of a Black man

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Five prison guards have been charged in the December death of a Black man who was pepper sprayed, had his face covered with a mask and was left in a position that caused him to suffocate while in custody at a correctional facility.

The charges, announced on Friday, stem from a violent series of events that took place on December 2023 at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. Othel Moore Jr., 38, the man who died, fell victim to “a system, pattern and practice of racist and unconstitutional abuse in the Missouri Department of Corrections,” his attorneys said as they filed a wrongful death lawsuit after the former guards were indicted.