lanesboro correctional officer killed
A North Carolina inmate was found guilty Monday of murdering four prison workers during a failed escape attempt two years ago. Officers skipped their required rounds at the prison the night Quick died, records show. An investigation by The Charlotte Observer found that state prison policies and management failures allow corruption to thrive. research before making any education decisions. Just out of view, in the lower right-hand corner of the video, a second fight erupts. Some family members believe that the murder may have been connected to an incident that occurred at a convenience store earlier in the week. September 2016 - Inmates stabbed a sergeant and a lieutenant at the prison, and hit two other officers with a broom handle. Cook said he met him in 2001, when Turner came to his aid in a fight against correctional officers. The staffing shortages also put officers in danger, Smith said. A correctional officer in the state of North Carolina was recently murdered, just one month before his wedding. [1], The incident was started by a prisoner revolt. Police are asking anyone with information related to the Easley murder to contact them immediately. Other prison staff members showed him where it was, he said. Inmate Gregorio Cortez Vazquez pleaded guilty earlier this month to second-degree murder in Turners stabbing death and was sentenced to up 16 additional years in prison. 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. Accessed March 29, 2018. ", "The inmates literally say, 'You all are understaffed, so if we wanted to, we could overtake this prison.' They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. 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Brooke, James. A video taken inside Lanesboro Correctional Institution shows prison officials gesturing to suspects in an inmates 2012 murder to keep their mouths shut after the killing, lawyers who represented one of the suspects said. Wynn, who also took the stand Tuesday, testified that some inmates simply walked around prison metal detectors. Strong of the FBIs Charlotte Field Office, joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making the announcement. 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. Do you want to share documents or information about the North Carolina prisons? CHARLOTTE, N.C. A federal grand jury sitting in Charlotte has indicted Erice Lemond Blyther, 46, of Hoffman, N.C., for smuggling a controlled substance at Lanesboro Correctional Institution while employed as a correctional officer. The weapons were found nearly a year and a half after the deadly fight, and forensic tests did not tie any of them to the attacks on Turner and Cook. This story was originally published December 4, 2014, 6:58 PM. "It's not safe," McCoy said. They were planning to go to that unit to settle a dispute with Cook, who belonged to a different gang. Human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have also documented statistics of police violence and acquittals in Brazil. February 2017 - Former officer Evangeline Hunt was charged with smuggling in drugs and other contraband for inmates. October 04, 1992. Roberts and Jeremy Smith, the state-appointed lawyers who represented Vazquez, said they watched prison surveillance video taken on the day Turner was killed and learned the following: Around lunchtime on Sept. 28, 2012, Ortiz and Zelaya-Sorto, along with one or two inmates who were members of a gang called the United Blood Nation, were in an administrative office with Wall and an assistant unit manager. If (prison officials) cant answer that question, why cant they?. First published on September 29, 2016 / 6:08 PM. Channel 9 has investigated Lanesboro, a maximum-security prison, for years. The inmate was identified as 35-year-old Wesley Turner in a news release from N.C . Dawe, whose group shares research to help correctional officers, said that prison leaders who operate without sufficient staff "roll the dice with people's lives.". The officer who opened the door for the three convicted inmates told SBI agents he did so because he thought the prisoners were returning to their unit following a meal. Meggan Callahan was killed there allegedly by an inmate who beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. The inmate who spent time with Wall Joseph Sanderlin was involved in at least two attacks at Lanesboro, Wynns attorneys say. Lanesboro Correctional Institution is a 1,000 cell, high security prison facility located adjacent to Brown Creek Correctional Institution and Anson Correctional Center in Polkton, NC. Walls testimony was brief and he did not elaborate on the hidden weapons. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Bridges said she reviewed hours of surveillance video and saw that inmates frequently visited the office of an assistant prison manager a practice that she believed posed a danger to officers. But Vazquez stabbed and killed Turner using another improvised weapon, a sharpened metal plate. "We've got to find a way to retain the people who work for us," Guice said. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS He acknowledged that he had heard complaints about Wall from officers at the prison, but they had no concrete evidence.. It was me who was supposed to die that day.. Forensic tests did not tie any of the shanks in Walls ceiling to the attacks on Turner, according to Bridges, the SBI agent. Bridges said she hasnt watched all of the DVDs found in Walls ceiling, but has turned them over to the FBI. [9] I would like to see the truth be told about what happens at Lanesboro. Please enter valid email address to continue. 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. 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. Wesley Turnerwas stabbed to death and taken to Anson Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety. Cook is a leader of the Folk Nation, a rival gang, and he has heard rumors of escalating gang tensions. 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. But after investigating for more than a year, the SBI closed the case. He pleads with two other inmates to lend him a weapon. And we don't have enough staff to fight back.". 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. Wall, now 45, wouldnt talk to the Observer. The officer said Wall asked her to go into his old office and retrieve a bag of shanks from the ceiling. 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. Wynn, who is serving a life sentence following a 2008 murder conviction, was permanently disabled after one of the attacks, his lawyers say. Its so dangerous that some officers begin their work days by asking those coming off the previous shift how many assaults theyve just seen. But some experts interviewed by the Observer said that's a possibility. 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. Other former Lanesboro inmates also say that corrections officers have made a dangerous environment more so. Cook, the target of the 2012 attack, was released from prison in March. His attorney, Joseph Ledford, wouldnt discuss his case and said he advised his client not to talk. Inmates involved in the fight told investigators that one of the shanks was a real long knife, another resembled a razor, and the third was a plastic toilet bowl brush sharpened at one end. Lo's lawyer confirmed to Brazilian news outlet G1 on Sunday that Lo was killed Saturday at a concert in So Paulo. The gashes in the officer's face and neck required 39 stitches. An investigation by The Charlotte Observer last year found that state prison policies and management failures allow corruption and violence to thrive. [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]. SBI officials say theres no proof that happened in the Turner case. Suite 1650 Jurors deliberated for about half an hour before convicting Mikel. Hes a manager at Lanesboro Correctional Institution. ANSON COUNTY, N.C. One inmate is dead after an incident at Lanesboro Correctional Center in Anson County. 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. Cook suffered lacerations and puncture wounds. 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. The officer opens the door for an inmate, and the three gang members follow him into a cell block where they dont belong. At Lanesboro, 45 miles southeast of Charlotte, it was common for 42 officers to watch about 1,200 prisoners on the night shift, according to Gregory McCoy, who worked there as a correctional officer from 2009 to 2016. A locked padlock If the officer knew an assault was going to take place, would he have opened the door? Bridges asked. In such situations inmates will sometimes send associates to threaten the officers, or even assault them. But prison officials did release the monthly figures, which show that the prison had 211 officers available to work in April. Two state investigators said they reached the same opinion. Surveillance videos and shanks hidden in the ceiling of a prison managers office raised questions about whether prison officials helped plan the attack or allowed it to happen. They visited the office for about 15 minutes. [5] The prisoners were stripped, locked in their cells and shot. Main Office: Ortiz is scheduled to get out in 2019. John Sapper is appointed as the new administrator at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor. Less than an hour after the fight, SBI agent Audria Bridges began investigating the murder. Richard Dwyer, a prisoner at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, died Aug. 17 of an apparent suicide, a state Department of Public Safety news release said. He joined the Folk Nation at age 16, was convicted of damaging property soon afterward, and later committed armed robbery, kidnapping and more than a dozen other crimes. Friends and family described Juan Ortiz-Castillo as very jealous of his wife, according to police. Turner lies bleeding to death on the concrete floor. They assert that releasing the videos could jeopardize prison security. The slain officer, Bias Easley, worked at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, which is located near Wadesboro. But, Cook said, Turner usually kept to himself. If you go down to the local high school, you would see a way more controlled atmosphere than you saw in this video.. 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. Correctional officers were also prohibited from accepting gifts from inmates, performing favors for inmates, or providing inmates with narcotic drugs or any other item forbidden by LCI rules. Charlotte, NC 28202, Charlotte: (704) 344-6222 In a recorded phone conversation, Hunt told a friend she knew a bunch of corrupt officers, according to an FBI affidavit. 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. At Polk Correctional Institution, north of Durham, two or three officers are routinely put in charge of monitoring more than 200 inmates in the chow hall, said Sierra Gravitte, an officer who this month resigned from the prison after four years on the job. Prosecutors later dismissed the charge because of problems with the credibility of witnesses. Some facts related to events surrounding the murder of inmate Wesley Turner are drawn from prison surveillance video obtained by the Observer. [12] Guimares, who was also a member of the So Paulo state legislature, was assassinated in September 2006. The incident was reported around1:30 p.m. at theLanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton. Drive down U.S. 74 toward the beach and you may not realize its there. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law. Another direct result of the riot and the handling of the riot was the unification of prisoners. "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. 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. The five men say they filed the lawsuit because of their time at Lanesboro Correctional Institution. December 2010 - Thirteen inmates assaulted staff members in various attacks, state records show. I characterize the lack of supervision there as, quite frankly, shocking, Roberts said. Its time, Cook wrote, to expose why Turner died. The military was given full command of the prison when arriving about 2:30 P.M..[4] Though the director wanted to negotiate with the prisoners by a megaphone, he was held back by his staff since the police almost crushed him. Experts said that better staffing at the prison likely would have meant more eyes and ears on what inmates were doing, faster response times and more officers on the scene. 1992 military police killing of prisoners in Brazil, Act in memoriam of 111 prisoners dead in the incident. Minutes before the Sept. 28, 2012, assault that killed Wesley Turner, two inmates involved visited the office of an assistant unit manager at the Anson County prison, State Bureau of Investigation agents say. [14] Then he counted the rings, Is red tide present at your favorite Florida beach? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. According to Acree, the prison is temporarily locked down while an investigation begins. That explanation didnt make sense to Bridges. RT @PresstvExtra: At least 40 people have been killed in flooding and landslides in Brazil's So Paulo state, officials say. A federal lawsuit, filed last month by five former Lanesboro inmates, alleges that corrections officers helped gang members wage attacks against other inmates. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. Ortiz was sentenced to 37 to 57 months. By Ames Alexander - aalexander@charlotteobserver.com. A spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections says two inmates were taken to the hospital. The control booth officer sees the fight, picks up a radio and makes a call. [24] Consequently, the prosecutor is initiating an appeal and the process remains ongoing. 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. Had there been more, he said, one female officer might never have been assaulted. 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. 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. Police haven't arrested his shooter and there are big questions about what led up to Thursday. Turner walks over to Cook and they stand shoulder to shoulder, braced for an attack. Combined, theyve been cited for dozens of offenses while in prison, including weapon possession, fighting and assault. 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. If Cooks DNA had turned up on any of the shanks in Walls office, that could have helped tie them to the attack. The dismissal letter, signed by Lanesboros acting administrator at the time, called Walls statement a clear threat of injury or harm to staff.. He got the nickname Ghost Face as the only white kid hanging out in a Durham housing project. Both of the attacks involved weapons. 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. Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough. The state Department of Public Safety says an inmate at Bertie. Both inmates are members of MS-13, a powerful Latino gang. Meggan Callahan was killed by an inmate at Bertie Correctional Institution Wednesday evening. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Inmates often hid contraband in body cavities, Parsons said. Two pending federal lawsuits allege that Wall and his officers sold weapons to gang members. POLKTON, N.C. -- Authorities in North Carolina say two supervisors were stabbed and two correctional officers were assaulted with a broom handle in an attack at a state prison. The other inmate who was injured is being treated for his injuries. Turner, who lived in D pod with the other three inmates, went through the door behind them. "I think if I hadn't gotten over there in time, (Mosley) probably would have cut her throat," McCoy said. Driver arrested after video shows him nearly hitting students at their school bus stop. They have nothing to worry about, Wall told the officer, according to the document, because if I wanted to get anyone, I could get them touched from the outside.. Inmates at this prison are kept under close watch and have committed very serious crimes. In 2014, Vazquez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing Turner. The confrontation began at about 8:30 a.m., when an inmate assaulted another inmate at . No, I dont think he would have.. Its also unclear where Zelays-Sorto and Ortiz go immediately after the meeting breaks up. Soon, the three convicted inmates all reported gang members were waiting at the door that would allow them into E pod, an adjacent unit. In 2012, an inmate filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Lanesboro corrections officers cracked his skull with a baton and then destroyed a surveillance video that showed the assault. [15] The surviving gang members joined forces with other prisoners to provide protection against the police. Following the attack, more than 800 inmates were put on lockdown for several months. He said three inmates believed to be involved in the assault have been identified and are being questioned. A prison officer and two inmates were injured during a fight at Lanesboro Correctional Institution Thursday morning, state prison officials said. 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. Its clearly not a place where theyre learning to go the straight and narrow, 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. At least eight Lanesboro officers were caught bringing in drugs, cellphones and tobacco from early 2013 to early 2017, according to law enforcement records.