Wesley Turner has come to defend Cook, his friend. In 2014, we reported that an inmate stabbed a prison administrator as he walked through the prison recreation yard. It's unclear whether better staffing would have saved Callahan's life. 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. Later that afternoon, Wall arrived at the Lanesboro parking lot, according to a prison document. The crackdown has reduced assaults, a DPS spokesman said. Copyright 2012 WBTV. 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. He was found dead in his cell the following morning, a victim of coronary artery disease. Inmates often hid contraband in body cavities, Parsons said. ", NC prison was understaffed when Sgt. Turner was scheduled to get out of prison this year, too. The massacre also received attention from the BBC with several articles in the last several years dealing with the vigils and the trials. Ortiz is scheduled to get out in 2019. Polkton Police Chief Matthew Norris said he recovered the one shank in Walls desk drawer soon after the 2012 fight. This morning, Turner had warned Cook that Latino gang members planned to create trouble between the Bloods and the Folks. The Killing Consensus: Homicide Detectives, Police that Kill and Organized Crime in Sio Paulo, Brazil. The massacre has also sparked ongoing discussions, both in Brazil and internationally about Brazil's prison system. Some correctional officers have more than doubled their income by working overtime. Lanesboro Correctional Institution houses about 1,800 inmates in close, medium and minimum custody. 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. Polkton is 45 miles southeast of Charlotte. They are now suing the facility. 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. In a court filing, Wall said he never facilitated attacks. 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. 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. [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. An investigation by The Charlotte Observer, NC woman who beat 1 in 3.35 million odds shows up to claim her lottery jackpot, Mail carrier cant believe his eyes after seeing NC lottery win. Then they returned to D pod, the unit where they lived. The inmate who spent time with Wall Joseph Sanderlin was involved in at least two attacks at Lanesboro, Wynns attorneys say. 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. His name has not been released. At other prisons of comparable size, officers told the Observer, it's common for about 50 or 60 officers to work the day shift. Bridges and a prison captain searched the ceiling and found videos of prison fights, nine rods, a long metal shank and three bloody shanks. The North Carolina . Staff researcher Maria David and David Raynor of The (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed. Wall said he put the shanks in the ceiling because he couldnt lock his desk drawer or file cabinet, his dismissal letter states. RT @PresstvExtra: At least 40 people have been killed in flooding and landslides in Brazil's So Paulo state, officials say. They have a very difficult job Most of them do it the right way. But by that time, the officer was already bleeding profusely. 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. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Both of the attacks involved weapons. All three of the convicted inmates have been transferred to other state prisons. [8] In 2013, hundreds of people attended a multi-faith vigil in So Paulo in memoriam of those killed in the massacre. Strong of the FBIs Charlotte Field Office, joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making the announcement. A third inmate involved in the altercation that day Julio Alberto Zelaya-Sorto pleaded guilty last month to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. Parsons testified that it was easy for inmates to make weapons, from broom handles, batteries and even toothbrushes. October 2014 - Prison administrator David Mitchell was stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a plastic shank. Prisoners were reported attacking each other with knives and pipes. ", "The inmates literally say, 'You all are understaffed, so if we wanted to, we could overtake this prison.' 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. McCoy heard the officer curse and saw her struggling with an inmate. Officers skipped their required rounds at the prison the night Quick died, records show. It was me who was supposed to die that day.. 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. Prison officials refused to allow reporters to interview Cook in prison, citing mental health concerns and a policy that does not allow media interviews with inmates in solitary confinement. An investigation by The Charlotte Observer found that state prison policies and management failures allow corruption to thrive. The four staff members at the Lanesboro. That was one of three times inmates attacked Mitchell. Please enter valid email address to continue. Those officers must cover two shifts and a number of them are off, sick or on vacation at any given time so only a fraction of the total staff was likely available to work the day shift on April 26. Its time, Cook wrote, to expose why Turner died. [15] The surviving gang members joined forces with other prisoners to provide protection against the police. Some family members believe that the murder may have been . Corrections officers recovered another improvised weapon at the scene a sharpened metal plate, which may have come from a prison door. The suits also contend that Wall facilitated attacks on two other inmates the same year Turner was killed. "You can only spread people so thin," she said. What happened to (the shanks)? asked SBI agent Audria Bridges, who led the investigation into Turners murder. September 2012 - The stabbing death of inmate Wesley Turner spurred an SBI investigation and led to three felony convictions. She earned an extra $36,500 in overtime that year, records show. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. But SBI agent Audria Bridges, who led the investigation, said she was troubled to learn that inmates at the prison roamed freely in areas they should not have been in.. By Ames Alexander, Gavin Off and Elizabeth Leland. A spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections says two inmates were taken to the hospital. He died helping me, Cook wrote in a letter to the Observer. He said I could face an EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) complaint for making false accusations.. Drive down U.S. 74 toward the beach and you may not realize its there. Hours after the murder, video also shows Wall gesturing to the killer. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. The Observer repeatedly tried to reach Wall to discuss the Turner murder and the lawsuit allegations. 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. In 2017, The New York Times published an article captioned "Brazils Deadly Prison System". He goes straight to Cook, who is bleeding, and motions for him to get down on his knees. A federal lawsuit, filed last month by five former Lanesboro inmates, alleges that corrections officers helped gang members wage attacks against other inmates. State prison policy says weapons potential criminal evidence should be kept in a locked container in the prisons armory. It was shocking to see the place wasnt being supervised with more of the restrictions that youd expect in a prison, she said. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. The confrontation began at about 8:30 a.m., when an inmate assaulted another inmate at . A veteran SC attorney weighs in, Alex Murdaugh murder trial jury begins deliberations same day 1 juror is removed. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Hes a manager at Lanesboro Correctional Institution. 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Another prisoner also slips through the door. But minutes later, they are walking through a prison hallway with weapons, headed for a fight. That explanation didnt make sense to Bridges. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Roberts, one of Vazquezs attorneys, said he was surprised to see how freely inmates at Lanesboro were allowed to roam the prison. Wynn, who is serving a life sentence following a 2008 murder conviction, was permanently disabled after one of the attacks, his lawyers say. February 2017 - Former officer Evangeline Hunt was charged with smuggling in drugs and other contraband for inmates. The N.C. Department of Public Safety has declined the Observers requests for copies of the video, citing ongoing investigative reviews.. 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. At least eight Lanesboro officers were caught bringing in drugs, cellphones and tobacco from early 2013 to early 2017, according to law enforcement records. 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. Meggan Callahan was killed there allegedly by an inmate who beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. A prison officer and two inmates were injured during a fight at Lanesboro Correctional Institution Thursday morning, state prison officials said. The prison has a staff complement of 403 employees including correctional officers, administrators, food service, medical, dental and maintenance workers. In October, the prisons top administrator, David Mitchell, was injured after he was stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a plastic shank. Furthermore, gunshot wounds were mainly found in the face, head, throat and chest. Cook is a leader of the Folk Nation, a rival gang, and he has heard rumors of escalating gang tensions. 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. At no time did (I) knowingly or willingly allow any inmate to attack any inmate, he wrote. State Bureau of Investigation agents say they are examining possible wrongdoing by former Lanesboro officers and cannot discuss the assertions by Vazquezs lawyers. The fatal fight broke out roughly five minutes after the inmates left the office. The slain officer, Bias Easley, worked at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, which is located near Wadesboro. August 2011 - Eighteen inmates assaulted staff members throughout the month. 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. Wall turns and looks directly into the room where Vazquez waits. State officials say they are working to improve conditions at Lanesboro. Wynn said he did not want to be branded as a prison snitch, a label that can get inmates hurt. How serious Parsons was about keeping contraband out of the prison remains unclear. Ortiz, the inmate charged in that stabbing, said his weapon was a plastic toilet bowl cleaner with a sharpened end. State prison leaders say they are holding many hiring events and partnering with schools and military bases to fill jobs. Theyre within feet of an officer who controls the locked door to the block. Western North Carolina
Wall and another prison manager walk down the hallway minutes later, then stop outside the office. 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. Both inmates are members of MS-13, a powerful Latino gang. The three wait outside Cooks cell block for more than a minute. Inmates within the LCI were prohibited from possessing controlled substances and are permitted to use controlled substances only when prescribed by a medical professional and under the direct supervision of LCI staff. 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. For months, Bridges tried to make sense of what she saw at the murder scene and on surveillance video. Prison leaders plan to examine many factors, including staffing patterns, Guice said. Other former Lanesboro inmates also say that corrections officers have made a dangerous environment more so. 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. [18] "They might have had enough officers to subdue that inmate before he got that fire extinguisher from the sergeant," said Robert Webster, a former captain at two North Carolina maximum-security prisons. Cook, the target of the 2012 attack, was released from prison in March. The first to enter is Julio Zelaya-Sorto, convicted of shooting and killing a man at a Greensboro nightclub. 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. The facility was a detention center, not a penitentiary, meaning that the inmates had not yet been tried or convicted. In my opinion, it didnt seem logical to hide them in the ceiling, she said. [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]. Designed to hold 1,400 inmates, the prison has a staff of about 500. None of the officers convicted have served their sentences. 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. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law. He was scheduled to stay in jail until 2017. Most (of the prisons officers) are good, hard-working folks, said Underwood, the SBI supervisor. A federal lawsuit, filed last month by five former Lanesboro inmates, alleges that corrections officers helped gang members wage attacks against other inmates. By Ames Alexander - aalexander@charlotteobserver.com. SBI officials say theres no proof that happened in the Turner case. "It's so dangerous," Gravitte 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. Now two NC men face prison. 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. Officers and staff have orchestrated illegal smuggling operations, beaten shackled inmates and engaged in sex with prisoners. All rights reserved. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Prison officials investigated the murder, but refused to provide the Observer their report. That works out to about one officer for every 29 inmates. [1], The incident was started by a prisoner revolt. 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. An official website of the United States government. 34/00, Case No. He had 43. Three weeks later, Wall was fired. Zelaya-Sorto did reply to the Observer, but wrote only: Este caso esta serado This case is closed.. - 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 state has recently made offers to about 400 officer candidates, so the vacancy rate will likely drop, Guice said. He stretches his arms wide above his head, then lowers them and covers his mouth with both hands. Less than an hour after the fight, SBI agent Audria Bridges began investigating the murder. Walker said she cant discuss specifics, but the investigation was not related to the Turner case. Four correctional officers at a North Carolina prison were hospitalized Thursday after they were stabbed by several inmates, officials said. Wesley Turner, a former inmate at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, was stabbed to death in a 2012 prison fight. The officer noticed a gun in Walls vehicle, the letter states. Have a question about Government Services? Prison officials refused to open Cooks cell door so that investigators could get a DNA sample, Bridges said. 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.". Correctional officers face significant dangers in their careers both inside and outside of prisons to which they are assigned. Two state investigators said they reached the same opinion. 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. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. 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. "We've got to find a way to retain the people who work for us," Guice said. Relatives of those killed and human rights activists have both demanded and appealed for justice. 227 West Trade St.
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. The first inmates arrived in January 2004. September 29, 2016 / 6:08 PM Another prison manager in that cramped office at the time told investigators that she was not paying attention as Wall spoke to the gang members, Bridges said. [13] Although not entirely certain, his death was likely the result of his role in the massacre. An officer at the gate house said Wall was upset and had a gun visible in his car, which violates prison policy. Opened in the town of Polkton in 2004, the state-run prison has for years been plagued by stabbings, smuggled contraband and allegations of wrongdoing by corrections officers. Heres how to check the conditions. 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. Bertie isn't the only state prison with staffing problems. 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. [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. 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. Follow Press TV on Telegram: http://t.me . Later, investigators found bloody weapons hidden in the ceiling of Walls old office. 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. His friend may be next. An investigation by The Charlotte Observer last year found that state prison policies and management failures allow corruption and violence to thrive. Prosecutors later dismissed the charge because of problems with the credibility of witnesses. Its also unclear where Zelays-Sorto and Ortiz go immediately after the meeting breaks up. Many listings are from partners who compensate us, which may influence which [16] The group is believed to be responsible for the death of Jos Ismael Pedrosa, the director of the prison at the time. Corrections officers flocked to the scene after the stabbings, but only one shank was recovered. Other prison staff members showed him where it was, he said. Five years after the murder, Lanesboros problems continue. 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. Since the beginning of 2016, more than 30 stabbings occurred. In January, police and prosecutors teamed up with the prisons new administrator, John Herring, to begin criminally charging inmates caught with weapons. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. 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. B.S. Richard Dwyer, a prisoner at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, died Aug. 17 of an apparent suicide, a state Department of Public Safety news release said. 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. One of those shanks was stained, possibly from blood, Bridges said. [5] No policemen were injured. 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. MMA Junkie says that police officer Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo is a suspect. His attorney, Joseph Ledford, wouldnt discuss his case and said he advised his client not to talk. 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. But he said that Gov. Hes a rookie at Lanesboro who is new to that job, still learning who to let in and who to keep out. "We've got a lot of folks who are not staying with us.". A typical day working at Lanesboro Correctional Institute was a stressful and dangerous job. Peguese resigned from the system in May 2013, while he was under investigation, said Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Pamela Walker. Following the attack, more than 800 inmates were put on lockdown for several months. Blyther is charged with use of interstate facility to facilitate bribery, which carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine; extortion under color of official right, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine; and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
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