He would not discuss the lawsuit or his testimony with an Observer reporter. From a common area, Cook can see Zelaya-Sorto and Ortiz the prisoners who have just met with Wall. Located in Polkton, about 45 miles east of Charlotte, Lanesboro has repeatedly drawn scrutiny after violence, contraband smuggling and allegations of improper conduct by corrections officers. Then he covers his mouth. [17], After years of national and international pressure, the prison was demolished on 8 December 2002, the former complex having been turned into a park. Ronald Covington, a former captain at Lanesboro, testified that Wall appeared to be close to a gang-affiliated inmate. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. In a recorded phone conversation, Hunt told a friend she knew a bunch of corrupt officers, according to an FBI affidavit. Wall had been assigned to another prison while the Turner investigation was underway. Then Wall said, They have nothing to worry about because if I wanted to get anyone, I could get them touched from the outside, the letter states. She earned an extra $36,500 in overtime that year, records show. POLKTON, N.C. -- Authorities in North Carolina say two supervisors were stabbed and two correctional officers were assaulted with a broom handle in an attackat a state prison. Wall, now 45, wouldnt talk to the Observer. How serious Parsons was about keeping contraband out of the prison remains unclear. I believe its not a coincidence that they are in that office within minutes of carrying out that hit, Bridges told an Observer reporter. 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. Another officer suffered serious cuts to his face last month after he was assaulted by an inmate with a bladed weapon. 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. Daniel Roberts, one of the lawyers, said at a sentencing hearing that the footage suggests prison officials may have sanctioned the attack or looked the other way. If the officer knew an assault was going to take place, would he have opened the door? Bridges asked. Moments earlier, the video shows former prison sergeant Jonathan Peguese making the identical gesture toward the office where one of the other suspects was held, the lawyers said. The massacre also gained international attention, with The New York Times, publishing one article titled "111 Killed When Police Storm Brazilian Prison During Inmate Riot" the same year as the massacre. SBI officials say theres no proof that happened in the Turner case. Accessed March 29, 2018. Why fans love it. A correctional officer in the state of North Carolina was recently murdered, just one month before his wedding. Corrections officers flocked to the scene after the stabbings, but only one shank was recovered. First published on September 29, 2016 / 6:08 PM. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Polkton is 45 miles southeast of Charlotte. English said he had gathered evidence about another prison sergeant who worked for Wall and who he suspected was bringing drugs into the prison. "It's not safe," McCoy said. 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. Driver arrested after video shows him nearly hitting students at their school bus stop. In October, the prisons top administrator, David Mitchell, was injured after he was stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a plastic shank. Theyre within feet of an officer who controls the locked door to the block. 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 inmate dead, another injured in prison incident, Medical Marijuana bill passes NC Senate; some cannabis supporters against bill, 8-year-old helps raise money for favorite Waffle House worker in need of car, PLAN AHEAD: Latest Weather Forecast Video. It's as simple as that.". There are no national standards for minimum staffing at prisons, experts say. 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. They have a very difficult job Most of them do it the right way. He had 43. Willis, G. D. (2002). Prison leaders say they have begun assigning new officers "career readiness coaches," who provide pointers on dealing with inmates, keeping themselves safe and attaining career goals. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. On the video, Cook, 41, is the tall inmate gesturing to other prisoners. Some correctional officers have more than doubled their income by working overtime. Your morale goes down," she said. Surveillance video from that day offers a look behind the prisons walls: Inmates mill about in a hallway, some high-fiving, others hugging or bumping fists, as if they are high-school students changing classes. The massacre has also sparked ongoing discussions, both in Brazil and internationally about Brazil's prison system. The massacre also received attention from the BBC with several articles in the last several years dealing with the vigils and the trials. Walker said she cant discuss specifics, but the investigation was not related to the Turner case. A former high-ranking administrator accused of fostering violence at one of North Carolinas most dangerous prisons acknowledged in federal court Tuesday that he kept homemade weapons such as shanks hidden in the ceiling of his prison office. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law. Said Gary Harkins, former research and information director for ACOIN: "People can get killed when you don't have enough staff. Heres how to check the conditions. [1], The incident was started by a prisoner revolt. Inmate Craig Wissink, who has been serving a life sentence for murder since 2004, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Callahan's death. But in his first public comments about the hidden weapons, Wall said Lanesboros top administrator at the time Lawrence Parsons was unaware that he kept the weapons in his ceiling. The Killing Consensus: Homicide Detectives, Police that Kill and Organized Crime in Sio Paulo, Brazil. Brooke, James. State prison officials refused to say how many staff were on duty the day Callahan died. MMA Junkie says that police officer Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo is a suspect. Furthermore, gunshot wounds were mainly found in the face, head, throat and chest. But, with the help of a source, the Observer obtained a prison surveillance video from the 2012 attack that killed inmate Wesley Turner, providing a rare glimpse into a prison murder. Hours after the murder, video also shows Wall gesturing to the killer. It was shocking to see the place wasnt being supervised with more of the restrictions that youd expect in a prison, she said. U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina, FBI Arrests Corrections Officer For Smuggling A Controlled Substance At Lanesboro Correctional Institution, Former Catawba County Director Of Utilities Is Sentenced To Prison For Accepting Bribes, Former Catawba County Director Of Utilities Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud Conspiracy For Accepting Bribes, North Carolina State Legislator Pleads Guilty To Making A False Statement To A Bank. 111 Killed When Police Storm Brazilian Prison During Inmate Riot. The New York Times. Some facts related to events surrounding the murder of inmate Wesley Turner are drawn from prison surveillance video obtained by the Observer. "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. Soon afterward, Vazquez attacked and killed Turner. 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. The first inmates arrived in January 2004. Walls dismissal letter, obtained by The Observer, states that he had hidden bloody weapons in the ceiling of his old office. Other inmates had told investigators that Hodges was supplying contraband to an inmate gang member who she later admitted was her boyfriend, court records show. [25] Since the massacre, Brazil's federal government has passed new legislation to reform the prison system, all of which has yet to be enforced.[26]. Turner, 35, had also been serving time for second-degree murder and was scheduled for release in 2017. The state Department of Public Safety says an inmate at Bertie. Police are asking anyone with information related to the Easley murder to contact them immediately. The CO was reportedly stabbed and suffered heavy bleeding after responding to an inmate fight. A locked padlock But Jeffery Wall the unit manager who made the gesture has been accused in federal lawsuits of facilitating two other gang attacks the same year. One inmate warned Lanesboro prison officials that Latino gang members were armed with homemade knives and planning an attack. Turner, according to the NCDPS, was serving time in the prison for the chargesof second degree murder, conspiracy murder first degree, and an attempted prison escape. The state says the prison was on lockdown while they investigated the incident. 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. He goes straight to Cook, who is bleeding, and motions for him to get down on his knees. 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. [22][23] The court judged that the massacre was an act of self-defense and that there was a lack of evidence to link the individual officers to the individual killings. Turner reportedly belonged to the same gang as Cook and was trying to go to his defense. Why would you keep them there, with the risk of them getting into the hands of an inmate? she asked. To investigators and the killers lawyers, his meaning seemed clear: Keep your mouth shut. The massacre, which left 111 prisoners dead, is considered by many people to be a major human rights violation. Charlotte, NC 28202, Charlotte: (704) 344-6222 On the morning of Sept. 28, 2012, the day that Turner was stabbed to death, there were rumors of potential violence. One Polk officer made $29,800 in salary in 2015. [19] In August 2013, another 25 policemen involved in the massacre were sentenced to 624 years each for the deaths of 52 inmates. Tony Underwood, who headed the Charlotte areas SBI office at the time, said hes still troubled by what investigators learned about Walls relationship with inmates. Some family members believe that the murder may have been . But minutes later, they are walking through a prison hallway with weapons, headed for a fight. Officers sprint in behind Wall, cornering the three attackers. Zelaya-Sorto pulls out a shank a handmade knife from inside his jumpsuit and lunges at Cook. She and her colleagues in the Charlotte SBI office were frequently called to investigate crimes there, including officers charged with bringing drugs to inmates. Police haven't arrested his shooter and there are big questions about what led up to Thursday. About 45 miles from Charlotte, just beyond a grove of trees, Lanesboro Correctional Institution houses some of the states most violent criminals. "It puts officers' lives in danger to be honest. September 2012 - The stabbing death of inmate Wesley Turner spurred an SBI investigation and led to three felony convictions. It's unclear whether better staffing would have saved Callahan's life. One of those officers fell and hurt her knee when she went to Callahan's defense, Jernigan said. But by that time, the officer was already bleeding profusely. They were planning to go to that unit to settle a dispute with Cook, who belonged to a different gang. In an email to the Observer, state prison leaders said they have no evidence to support that conversations and gestures with inmates seen in the surveillance video are anything other than normal discussions with the inmate population.. Combined, theyve been cited for dozens of offenses while in prison, including weapon possession, fighting and assault. A spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections says two inmates were taken to the hospital. in Justice Studies and M.S. Parsons, now retired, testified Tuesday that during his time at Lanesboro, he took a number of steps to reduce violence and keep weapons out of the hands of inmates. Its also unclear where Zelays-Sorto and Ortiz go immediately after the meeting breaks up. His name has not been released. Bertie now houses about 935 inmates. He got the nickname Ghost Face as the only white kid hanging out in a Durham housing project. 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. Meggan Callahan was beaten to death, Medical Marijuana bill passes NC Senate; some cannabis supporters against bill, 8-year-old helps raise money for favorite Waffle House worker in need of car, PLAN AHEAD: Latest Weather Forecast Video. Attorneys for Vazquez said their client never told them what led to the fight. At least eight Lanesboro officers were caught bringing in drugs, cellphones and tobacco from early 2013 to early 2017, according to law enforcement records.
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