new orleans — A federal jury has found a private company running a Louisiana prison liable for the death of a man who died from head injuries in custody in 2015, awarding the family more than $40 million in damages.
Lawyers representing Erie Moore Sr.’s family say they believe the verdict handed down this week in the Western District of Louisiana is among the highest ever awarded by a jury for a custodial death in the United States.
“For the past 10 years, my sisters and I have been tormented by the knowledge that he does not rest easy,” said his son, Erie Moore Jr. “This trial has brought light where there was darkness. It has brought truth, justice and peace to our family.”
Moore was a 57-year-old mill worker and father of three with no criminal history, who was arrested on October 12, 2015, for disturbing the peace at a donut shop in Monroe, Louisiana.
Moore became “agitated and non-compliant” while being held at Richwood Correctional Center, according to court filings. His lawyer, Max Schoening, says Moore was “mentally ill” at the time of his detention.
Schoening says guards pepper-sprayed him at least eight times during the 36 hours he spent in prison.
Court records, including footage from prison surveillance cameras submitted into evidence and viewed by The Associated Press, show that Moore was forcefully brought down by several guards. Other footage shows guards holding Moore by his handcuffed legs and hands when one of the guards stumbled, and Moore’s head fell to the ground.
Moore was then transferred to a secluded area of the prison without security cameras. He remained there, out of sight, for approximately two hours, during which no one sought medical attention, court records show.
“The jury found that the guards continued to use excessive force against Mr. Moore in the camera-free area,” Schoening said. “When sheriffs from another law enforcement agency arrived to pick him up and transport him to another prison, they found him unconscious and completely unresponsive.”
When Moore eventually arrived at the hospital, he was already in a coma and died about a month later, court records show. The Ouachita Parish coroner ruled Moore’s death a homicide due to head injuries.
A federal jury found three guards liable for negligence, battery and excessive force. The jury also found LaSalle Management Co., which operates Richwood Correctional Center, liable for causing Moore’s death due to the negligence of at least one of its guards.
No one has been criminally charged in Moore’s death, Schoening added.
The jury ordered LaSalle and Richwood to pay $23.25 million in punitive damages and $19.5 million in restitution to Moore’s three adult children.
“It’s the largest compensation award I’ve 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 with the Richwood Correctional Center facility for its jail from 2001 to 2019. Court filings show that LaSalle, part of the same business enterprise as Richwood Correctional Center, operates detention facilities throughout Louisiana and Texas.
Richwood Correctional Center now serves as a federal immigration detention site. Last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said LaSalle was “an important part of the ICE detention system.”
LaSalle did not respond to requests for comment sent to its attorney or spokesperson. The city of Monroe declined to comment.
“Erie Moore Sr.’s life was a gift to his family and his community. LaSalle Management Co. ended her life with utter indifference,” Schoening said. “It is a testament to the love, courage and resilience of his children that, in the face of enormous obstacles, they were able to obtain justice for their father and a historic victory for civil rights in this country.”
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Brock is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America It is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.