On Dec. 28, a guard at Brown Creek Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison located adjacent to Lanesboro, was accused of trying to smuggle marijuana and painkillers into the facility to give to an inmate there. April 2009 - Inmate Prentiss Quick complained of chest pains and requested medical help, but no one at the prison got him to a nurse or a doctor, a correctional officer and an inmate said. At a pre-disciplinary conference, Wall told prison officials he was planning to put the shanks in a display case that would be used to train new staff members. Testimony from former unit manager Jeffery Wall came during the second day of a civil trial examining whether Walls supervisor, the top official at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, ignored serious problems and allowed Wall to maintain a violent, contraband-driven fiefdom.. "You can only spread people so thin," she said. Palmetto man sentenced to life in prison after stabbing wife to death, faking intruder, He found a clam on a Florida beach to make some chowder. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All three of the convicted inmates have been transferred to other state prisons. Shortly after 3 p.m., almost three hours after the attack, correctional officers lead Vazquez into a nurses office. Lake Norman mansion for sale hosted famous Talladega Nights Hollywood dinner scene, Ex-high school coach accused of sex crimes against 6 more athletes, NC sheriff says. Some of the DVDs showed fights between inmates, Bridges said. Dates, what you need to know, Winthrop loses to Radford in Big South tournament quarterfinals, Bonnaroo vows to stay champion of self-expression despite Tennessee drag show ban. The prison has a staff complement of 403 employees including correctional officers, administrators, food service, medical, dental and maintenance workers. The father was eventually rescued relatively unharmed, but the incident was a reminder of how an incident originating inside a jail or prison can quickly turn into a dangerous situation on the outside. Staff stabbed, guards attacked with broom handle at N.C. prison - CBS News Wesley Turner has come to defend Cook, his friend. Then he covers his mouth. The Carandiru massacre (Portuguese: Massacre do Carandiru, Portuguese: [msaki du kdiu]) occurred on Friday, 2 October 1992, in Carandiru Penitentiary in So Paulo, Brazil, when military police stormed the penitentiary following a prison riot.The massacre, which left 111 prisoners dead, is considered by many people to be a major human rights violation. New documents, interviews and a lawsuit paint a picture of a place where some officers seemed to collaborate with gang-affiliated inmates and gave them free rein to roam. Lawsuit: Prison guards deleted beating video | wcnc.com Did prison guards conspire with inmates, gangs at North Carolina prison Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. The Carandiru massacre (Portuguese: Massacre do Carandiru, Portuguese:[msaki du kdiu]) occurred on Friday, 2 October 1992, in Carandiru Penitentiary in So Paulo, Brazil, when military police stormed the penitentiary following a prison riot. Officer, two inmates assaulted and injured at Lanesboro prison | Rock Many of the large maximum-security prisons such as Bertie and Lanesboro are located in rural areas, where recruiting can be difficult. Many of those videos were labeled with the words use of force a term that describes the force used by law enforcement officers to control unruly people. 4 correctional officers assaulted at North Carolina prison Its clearly not a place where theyre learning to go the straight and narrow, he said. Why fans love it. In a court filing, Wall said he never facilitated attacks. But local law enforcement officials are optimistic about changes at Lanesboro. In January, police and prosecutors teamed up with the prisons new administrator, John Herring, to begin criminally charging inmates caught with weapons. Ronald Covington, a former captain at Lanesboro, testified that Wall appeared to be close to a gang-affiliated inmate. ", "The inmates literally say, 'You all are understaffed, so if we wanted to, we could overtake this prison.' An officer at the gate house said Wall was upset and had a gun visible in his car, which violates prison policy. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife, son in June 2021. Gregorio Cortez Vazquez, who was accused of stabbing Turner, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Wednesday in Anson County Superior Court and was sentenced to up to 16 years. NC prison was understaffed when sergeant was beaten to death The FBI investigated the case. He also said he had not kept a gun in plain view inside his car, contrary to what a corrections officer had reported. They are now suing the facility. "If inmates wanted to jump another inmate or take somebody out that day, that would be the time to do it when you're understaffed. 11.291 (IACmHR, Apr. Soon afterward, a corrections officer allowed the inmates into the pod where the murder took place. Statewide, about 16 percent of officer positions are vacant. MMA Junkie says that police officer Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo is a suspect. It's unclear whether better staffing would have saved Callahan's life. The. Jurors deliberated for about half an hour before convicting Mikel. Blyther was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday, October 29, 2019, and had his initial appearance this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer. Feds, state investigating gangs at NC prison | Rock Hill Herald Murder probe exposes more problems at Lanesboro prison, Former SC governor, Trump ally Nikki Haley coming to Myrtle Beach as she runs for president, Fort Mill just named its top teachers and staff members for 2023. Brian Dawe, executive director of the American Correctional Officer Intelligence Network (ACOIN), said Bertie like most of the nation's prisons appeared to be badly understaffed, based on the numbers that state prison officials provided to the Observer. And they say pay increases approved by the legislature in 2015 will also help with recruiting. 1 inmate dead after incident at correctional center - WSOC TV The incident was reported around 1:30 p.m. at the Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton. Bias Easley was a corrections officer at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, near Wadesboro. Updated: 4:34 PM EST November 9, 2012. Soon afterward, the suspects were escorted into offices where they received medical treatment. Inmates indicted on murder charges for death and injury of fellow inmates In July 2013, 10 months after the attack, Bridges was at Lanesboro interviewing an inmate when she got a tip. Once in a lifetime, Murdaugh verdict sends a Lowcountry message: No one is above the law | Opinion, Charlotte Waffle House found with live roach, unclean equipment during health inspection, The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. A typical day working at Lanesboro Correctional Institute was a stressful and dangerous job. According to charges contained in the federal indictment, Blyther worked as a correctional officer at the Lanesboro Correctional Institution (LCI), since renamed Anson Correctional Institution, a state prison located in Polkton, North Carolina. [14] Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Washington, of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte, is in charge of the prosecution. A prison with 1,000 inmates should have a total of at least 300 to 350 officers, he said. Reporters interviewed Cook in March, two days after he was released from prison. The vigil and pleas for justice led to several trials for the officers involved in the massacre that same year. In interviews with investigators, officer Kearry Hinson said he picked up one of the weapons used in the fight and gave it to Wall. Special Agent in Charge John A. NC prison officers skip security rounds, endanger inmates | Raleigh Others believe that it was somehow connected to his job. Vazquez repeatedly stabs Turner with a shank. The confrontation began at about 8:30 a.m., when an inmate assaulted another inmate at . Meggan Callahan was killed there allegedly by an inmate who beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. By Ames Alexander - aalexander@charlotteobserver.com. But, Cook said, Turner usually kept to himself. If the officer knew an assault was going to take place, would he have opened the door? Bridges asked. A fellow prisoner, Joel Corto Ortiz, pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon for stabbing Christopher Cook, another inmate who was seriously injured in the fight. Another prisoner also slips through the door. Attorneys for Vazquez said their client never told them what led to the fight. And, he said, they would even go so far as to tie dental floss around forbidden items, flush them down the toilet before a cell search and later use the dental floss to retrieve them. [8] In 2013, hundreds of people attended a multi-faith vigil in So Paulo in memoriam of those killed in the massacre. The crackdown has reduced assaults, a DPS spokesman said. April 2011 - Richard Neely, a former top administrator at Lanesboro, was charged with felony obstruction of justice following allegations that he destroyed video footage that might have shown officers using excessive force in a fight with inmates. He had 43. [5] The prisoners were stripped, locked in their cells and shot. More than 45 N.C. prison officers have been fired . / CBS/AP. FBI Arrests Corrections Officer For Smuggling A Controlled Substance At A federal lawsuit, filed last month by five former Lanesboro inmates, alleges that corrections officers helped gang members wage attacks against other inmates. But some experts interviewed by the Observer said that's a possibility. Officials say the men used a homemade shank as a weapon. According to Acree, the prison is temporarily locked down while an investigation begins. Zelaya-Sorto pulls out a shank a handmade knife from inside his jumpsuit and lunges at Cook. State officials say they are working to improve conditions at Lanesboro. John Sapper is appointed as the new administrator at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor. Asked to explain the shanks in his ceiling, Wall told his bosses he was planning to put them in a display case to train new staff members. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. We had about 7 officers overseeing about 30 inmates in a kitchen to make sure they followed the recipes.prepared and use the right utensils to serve the food. Following the attack, more than 800 inmates were put on lockdown for several months. Western North Carolina A prison system veteran who earned about $41,000 a year, Wall was one of Lanesboros four unit managers, overseeing a block with nearly 300 inmates. November 2014 - Five former Lanesboro inmates filed a federal lawsuit alleging that officers at the Anson County prison repeatedly helped gang-affiliated inmates get weapons and wage attacks. State prison leaders say they are holding many hiring events and partnering with schools and military bases to fill jobs. NC sergeant killed by inmate worked in understaffed prison | Charlotte Starting in November 2013, more than 800 inmates at the prison were put on lockdown for several months after an attack injured a corrections officer. Lanesboro Correctional Institution - PrisonPro Designed to hold 1,400 inmates, the prison has a staff of about 500. Prison video shows Wall making a keep your mouth shut gesture stretching his arms wide and then folding them so his hands covered his mouth to the office where Vazquez had been taken, Roberts and Smith said. Forensic tests did not tie any of the shanks in Walls ceiling to the attacks on Turner, according to Bridges, the SBI agent. RALEIGH, N.C. A prison officer and two inmates were injured during a fight at Lanesboro Correctional Institution Thursday morning, state prison officials said. Both are members of the Folk Nation. "It's not safe," McCoy said. The N.C. Department of Public Safety has declined the Observers requests for copies of the video, citing ongoing investigative reviews.. Friends and family described Juan Ortiz-Castillo as very jealous of his wife, according to police. The inmate who spent time with Wall Joseph Sanderlin was involved in at least two attacks at Lanesboro, Wynns attorneys say. NC prison officials asked for inmates' silence after Lanesboro killing Leandro Lo, a legendary jiu-jitsu fighter, was killed in Brazil, according to MMA Junkie.He was 33 years old. Dustin Bettis, a former inmate who did time in Lanesboro, told the Observer he saw Wall give a pocket knife to one inmate and a cellphone to another. He pleads with two other inmates to lend him a weapon. [7], The country was in major shock from the massacre. Its time, Cook wrote, to expose why Turner died. Ten months later, significant amounts of contraband including video recordings and three bloody shanks were found in the ceiling above Walls office, according to his dismissal letter. Ortiz is scheduled to get out in 2019. But Daniel Roberts, one of the attorneys, told a judge at a court hearing that the videos and other evidence suggest prison officials either sanctioned the attack or looked the other way. But Vazquez stabbed and killed Turner using another improvised weapon, a sharpened metal plate. Hodges was sentenced to two years in federal prison. A lawyer for the killer said in a court hearing that he believes prison officials either sanctioned the September 2012 attack or looked the other way. They assert that releasing the videos could jeopardize prison security. Cook suffered lacerations and puncture wounds. Roberts said that if prison is supposed to be a place where inmates learn to live law-abiding lives, Lanesboro appears to be falling short. His friend may be next. The LCI housed medium and close-security inmates and was one of the states largest prisons. Less than an hour after the fight, SBI agent Audria Bridges began investigating the murder. A spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections says two inmates were taken to the hospital. Prosecutors later dismissed the charge because of problems with the credibility of witnesses. One former officer, who rushed to a colleague's defense after she was slashed in the neck by an inmate at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, said the attack might have been prevented with more staff. Bridges said she doesnt believe that. Its also unclear where Zelays-Sorto and Ortiz go immediately after the meeting breaks up. NC inmates win payouts over prison violence - Burlington Times News Wall is the first staff member to arrive. January 2013 - A former Lanesboro correctional officer began sending letters to state officials, describing several incidents in which some prison officials appeared to collude with gang members. By Ames Alexander, Gavin Off and Elizabeth Leland. "And this time it came up snake eyes," he said. Angela Smith, who worked as an officer at Tabor Correctional Institution from 2010 to 2014, said she was often asked to work overtime because the prison was so understaffed. One of the officers seen making the keep-quiet gesture was Jeffery Wall, a former prison unit manager who was fired months after inmate Wesley Turners murder. Another was criminally charged with bringing heroin to a prisoner. Copyright 2012 WBTV. Working at Lanesboro Correctional Institution: 17 Reviews - Indeed Turner reportedly belonged to the same gang as Cook and was trying to go to his defense. Vazquez and Zelaya-Sorto are scheduled for release in 2028. The inmate was identified as 35-year-old Wesley Turner in a news release from N.C . Wall, who joined the prison system in 1995, was fired in August 2013 for willful violation of written rules and creating conditions that increased the chance of death or serious bodily injury, his dismissal letter states. Zelaya-Sorto and Ortiz pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon. As alleged in the indictment, as a correctional officer, Blythers duties included the supervision of inmates, and ensuring safe, secure and orderly prison operations. Thats Wall in the white shirt and tie entering the hallway on the video. Subsequent searches found numerous cellphones, improvised weapons and marijuana. The father of two was shot and killed in front of his Charlotte, North Carolina home, and police are currently investigating whether or not the murder was somehow connected to his profession or incidences which may have occurred in the correctional facility where he is employed. Prison officials considered that a clear threat to staff. State Bureau of Investigation agents say they are examining possible wrongdoing by former Lanesboro officers and cannot discuss the assertions by Vazquezs lawyers. Prison leaders say that when staff vacancies at a prison rise, they make adjustments, such as moving prisoners, reducing inmate programs and sending fewer staff members to special training. (Parsons) told me I couldnt say anything about another sergeant bringing in marijuana, Wilburn testified. The staffing shortages also put officers in danger, Smith said. Wall was eventually fired in 2013, after Parsons had left Lanesboro and after the homemade shanks were found hidden in the ceiling of Walls office. Do you want to share documents or information about the North Carolina prisons? His name has not been released. Next is Joel Sour Ortiz, who is in prison for armed robbery and shooting a motorist in the head during a road-rage attack on Raleighs beltline. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Prison officials investigated the murder, but refused to provide the Observer their report. Turner, who lived in D pod with the other three inmates, went through the door behind them. They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. It is a close custody facility, which is the equivalent of maximum security. A lock ( The commanding officer of the operation, Colonel Ubiratan Guimares, was initially sentenced to 632 years in prison for his mishandling of the rebellion and the subsequent massacre. [2] The conflict consisted of 2,069 prisoners against 15 guards, resulting in the guards quickly losing control of the prisoners. Before he left in 2016 to oversee 15 state prisons in western North Carolina, Mitchell told the Observer: Im certain there are people involved with gang activity that work here.. Our theory is that, at best, the corrections officers knew (the attack) was going to happen and did nothing to stop it, Smith said. A video taken inside Lanesboro Correctional Institution shows prison officials gesturing to suspects in an inmate's 2012 murder to keep their mouths shut after the killing, lawyers who. Why would someone working in a prison give someone who is suspected of being involved in a murder a be quiet sign? Roberts said in an interview with the Observer. Early on the morning of Nov. 15, 2013, Lanesboro had just four officers in the chow hall to oversee the 100 inmates who were there for breakfast, McCoy said. Contact SAP - Penitentiary Administration of So - corrections.direct State prison officials refused to say how many staff were on duty the day Callahan died. Cook said he met him in 2001, when Turner came to his aid in a fight against correctional officers. Heres the list, Former Panthers site entrance, large home lots near Lake Wylie among Rock Hill plans, Death investigation after man found shot to death in Chester County, sheriff says, Man charged with DUI after 3-year-old child dies in Fort Mill car crash, police say, Powerful storm system across the East will impact the Rock Hill regions weather, Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife, son in June 2021, Alex Murdaughs attorneys say theyll appeal double-murder conviction, When is spring bike week 2023 happening in Myrtle Beach? Two other inmates involved in the gang-related fight that day Julio Alberto Zelaya-Sorto and Joel Corto Ortiz also pleaded guilty to felonies and had up to four and five years, respectively, added to their prison sentences. The inmate was always in his office, and that was kind of unusual, Covington said. No prison officials have been criminally charged. September 2016 - Inmates stabbed a sergeant and a lieutenant at the prison, and hit two other officers with a broom handle. Follow Press TV on Telegram: http://t.me . "If you had more staff, then you might have been looking at hurt staff instead of dead staff" (on the day Callahan died), Harkins said. But it was sometimes hard for prison officers to find those shanks, Parsons said. Searches found numerous cellphones, improvised weapons and marijuana. At no time did (I) knowingly or willingly allow any inmate to attack any inmate, he wrote. Often, exhausted prison officers fall asleep on the job, too. Polkton Police Chief Matthew Norris said he recovered the one shank in Walls desk drawer soon after the 2012 fight. One of those officers fell and hurt her knee when she went to Callahan's defense, Jernigan said. Seconds later, Ortiz grabs a shank from his waistband and also begins slashing Cook. Combined, theyve been cited for dozens of offenses while in prison, including weapon possession, fighting and assault. Authorities believe all three of the convicted inmates had homemade knives, commonly known as shanks. The shank didnt belong there. Inside his cell block, inmate Christopher Cook expects trouble. English said he had gathered evidence about another prison sergeant who worked for Wall and who he suspected was bringing drugs into the prison. Attorneys for the state quizzed Wynn why he didnt take steps that might have allowed him to avoid the attack. When Callahan was attacked, two other officers were nearby, according to Anthony Jernigan, who heads the State Bureau of Investigation office that covers northeastern North Carolina. Turner walks over to Cook and they stand shoulder to shoulder, braced for an attack. Officers often find that they may become targets outside of the work place for incidents that began inside the jails and prisons in which they work. Officers sprint in behind Wall, cornering the three attackers. He stretches his arms wide above his head, then lowers them and covers his mouth with both hands. The other inmate who was injured is being treated for his injuries. The state Department of Public Safety says an inmate at Bertie. Multiple attempts to reach Wall and Peguese including visits to their last known addresses in Anson County were unsuccessful. It was especially heartbreaking for me to see you go in the media from being a grieving father who lost a wife and a son to being the person indicted and convicted of killing them, Judge Clifton Newman said to Alex Murdaugh Friday. Charlotte, NC 28202, Charlotte: (704) 344-6222 Experts say such corruption jeopardizes prison workers, wastes taxpayer dollars and endangers the public. He said the injuries he suffered in the 2011 attack have made it impossible for him to lift much weight above his head or work some prison jobs. The control booth officer sees the fight, picks up a radio and makes a call. Walker said she cant discuss specifics, but the investigation was not related to the Turner case. Ortiz later told investigators his weapon was a plastic toilet bowl cleaner with a sharpened end.
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