Three prison officials sentenced for beating defenseless inmate

Three former Department of Corrections officials were sentenced Wednesday for using excessive force against an inmate, involving the use of dangerous weapons and resulting in bodily injury.  

All three defendants previously pleaded guilty to their respective roles assaulting the inmate, in violation of the inmate’s Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Corrections Officer Jessica Hill was sentenced to three years and one month in prison, two years of supervised release and a $1,500 fine. Corrections Officer LaToya Richardson was sentenced to three years and one month in prison, two years of supervised release and a $1,500 fine. Case Manager Nicole Moore was sentenced to two years in prison, two years of supervised release and a $1,500 fine.

Court documents say that on July 11, 2019, at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County, Hill, Richardson and Moore assaulted a defenseless inmate while she was in the fetal position and not resisting in any fashion. Hill struck the inmate several times with a cannister and then repeatedly punched her in the head. Richardson kicked the inmate four times in the head and upper torso, and Moore kicked her one time in the back of the head. Hill continued to strike the inmate, who was still laying on the ground in the fetal position, until fellow prison staff intervened to stop the assault.

“These defendants are being held accountable for their criminal abuse of their authority by using excessive force against an inmate who was not resisting them,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting prison officials who violate the law and their oaths by subjecting inmates in their custody to cruel and unusual punishment.”