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Officers skipped their required rounds at the prison the night Quick died, records show. The slain officer, Bias Easley, worked at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, which is located near Wadesboro. 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. "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. Hours after the murder, video also shows Wall gesturing to the killer. Ronald Covington, a former captain at Lanesboro, testified that Wall appeared to be close to a gang-affiliated inmate. To cope with the shortages, many prisons have also paid hundreds of thousands each year for overtime. Brooke, James. 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. 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. research before making any education decisions. In court documents, Parsons has denied that. 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. Some facts related to events surrounding the murder of inmate Wesley Turner are drawn from prison surveillance video obtained by the Observer. In a cell block inside one of the states most dangerous prisons, an inmate stabs a rival gang member over and over, 13 times. 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. Richard Dwyer, a prisoner at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, died Aug. 17 of an apparent suicide, a state Department of Public Safety news release said. Peguese resigned from the system in May 2013, while he was under investigation, said Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Pamela Walker. Just out of view, in the lower right-hand corner of the video, a second fight erupts. [9] He reportedly belonged to Cooks gang and planned to go to his defense. [8], In April 2013, 23 policemen involved in the massacre were sentenced to 156 years in prison each for the killing of 13 inmates. Cook is unarmed. 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 state has recently made offers to about 400 officer candidates, so the vacancy rate will likely drop, Guice said. Copyright 2012 WBTV. The current capacity of Lanesboro Correctional Institution is 1,400 adult male inmates. 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. Here are his plans. And we don't have enough staff to fight back.". Theyre within feet of an officer who controls the locked door to the block. Jurors deliberated for about half an hour before convicting Mikel. The state has changed the prisons leadership several times in recent years. In July 2013, 10 months after the attack, Bridges was at Lanesboro interviewing an inmate when she got a tip. Why would you keep them there, with the risk of them getting into the hands of an inmate? she asked. But he said that Gov. Zelaya-Sorto pulls out a shank a handmade knife from inside his jumpsuit and lunges at Cook. If Cooks DNA had turned up on any of the shanks in Walls office, that could have helped tie them to the attack. ANSON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - Five former prisoners of Lanesboro Correctional in Anson County say guards at the prison helped gang-affiliated inmates get weapons and wage attacks. Wynn alleges that Parsons was willfully and deliberately indifferent to his safety, in violation of his Constitutional right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment. Bertie now houses about 935 inmates. Another was criminally charged with bringing heroin to a prisoner. 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. The fatal fight broke out roughly five minutes after the inmates left the office. Wall is the first staff member to arrive. 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. Zelaya-Sorto did reply to the Observer, but wrote only: Este caso esta serado This case is closed.. A veteran SC attorney weighs in, Alex Murdaugh murder trial jury begins deliberations same day 1 juror is removed. 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. The man turns and looks directly into the room. A video taken inside Lanesboro in 2012 and obtained by the Observer shows Wall meeting with gang members just minutes before those inmates, armed with homemade weapons, became involved in a fight that killed inmate Wesley Turner. He was not asked to explain why. Its clearly not a place where theyre learning to go the straight and narrow, he said. The prison is named for the nearby community of Lanesboro. "And this time it came up snake eyes," he said. Contact SAP - Penitentiary Administration of So Paulo (Secretaria da Administrao Penitenciria), Brazil, Corrections in So Paulo, So Paulo Brazil. The FBI investigated the case. Five years after the murder, Lanesboros problems continue. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. One of those officers fell and hurt her knee when she went to Callahan's defense, Jernigan said. 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. Three correctional officers were assaulted late last week at the same state prison where an officer was killed two years ago. Staff researcher Maria David and David Raynor of The (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed. The five men say they filed the lawsuit because of their time at Lanesboro Correctional Institution. And with Wall's signal after the fact, telling (Vazquez) essentially to be quiet, I don't know what other inference you can draw from it.. 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. Once in a lifetime, After years of negotiations, GOP leaders reach a breakthrough on Medicaid expansion, Alex Murdaughs attorneys say theyll appeal double-murder conviction, 16-year-old Raleigh teen charged with murder in Robeson County killing, The evidence was clear: Murdaugh juror reveals quick deliberation in SC murder trial, Day 29: Murdaugh sentenced to life, attorneys say theyll appeal to US Supreme Court if needed, What were the deciding factors in the Murdaugh guilty verdict? Lock "It's not safe," McCoy said. Reporters interviewed Cook in March, two days after he was released from prison. Ortiz is scheduled to get out in 2019. All charges in the indictment are allegations. Other prison staff members showed him where it was, he said. Suite 1650 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. Wilburn English, a prison sergeant who previously worked at Lanesboro, recalled a day when Parsons and Wall came to talk with him. Guards allegedly opened Parsons testified that it was easy for inmates to make weapons, from broom handles, batteries and even toothbrushes. One of those shanks was stained, possibly from blood, Bridges said. The suits also contend that Wall facilitated attacks on two other inmates the same year Turner was killed. 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. Lo's lawyer confirmed to Brazilian news outlet G1 on Sunday that Lo was killed Saturday at a concert in So Paulo. "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. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. Forensic tests did not tie any of the shanks in Walls ceiling to the attacks on Turner, according to Bridges, the SBI agent. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS 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. Soon, the three convicted inmates all reported gang members were waiting at the door that would allow them into E pod, an adjacent unit. Investigators and lawyers believe a prison manager knew the attack was coming. 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. But, Cook said, Turner usually kept to himself. 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. Main Office: Wesley Turner, a former inmate at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, was stabbed to death in a 2012 prison fight. Bridges, 46, a North Carolina State graduate and former Concord police officer, was familiar with Lanesboro. 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. In October, the prisons top administrator, David Mitchell, was injured after he was stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a plastic shank. 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. Inside his cell block, inmate Christopher Cook expects trouble. Angela Smith, who worked as. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. We encourage you to perform your own independent Turner walks over to Cook and they stand shoulder to shoulder, braced for an attack. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. "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. Cook, the target of the 2012 attack, was released from prison in March. State officials say they are working to improve conditions at Lanesboro. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. 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. 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. If the officer knew an assault was going to take place, would he have opened the door? Bridges asked. State prison leaders say they are holding many hiring events and partnering with schools and military bases to fill jobs. 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. A locked padlock But by that time, the officer was already bleeding profusely. Accessed March 29, 2018. A female officer told Bridges that Wall just called looking for help. In such situations inmates will sometimes send associates to threaten the officers, or even assault them. Turner, who lived in D pod with the other three inmates, went through the door behind them. This story was originally published July 17, 2018, 8:17 PM. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Your morale goes down," she said. Often, exhausted prison officers fall asleep on the job, too. 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. Some family members believe that the murder may have been connected to an incident that occurred at a convenience store earlier in the week. State Bureau of Investigation agents say they are examining possible wrongdoing by former Lanesboro officers and cannot discuss the assertions by Vazquezs lawyers. The incident was reported around1:30 p.m. at theLanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton. in Criminal Justice - Corrections, and M.S. State prison leaders refused requests for all surveillance videos that show incidents in which Wall is accused of helping inmates wage attacks. Bridges said she doesnt buy that explanation. In 2017, The New York Times published an article captioned "Brazils Deadly Prison System". The other inmate who was injured is being treated for his injuries. 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. In February, the FBI charged former Lanesboro officer Evangeline Hunt with smuggling in drugs and other contraband for inmates. For the past nine years, Sapper has served as the operations manager for the Coastal Region, overseeing 12 prisons in eastern North Carolina. Wall turns and looks directly into the room where Vazquez waits. 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 indictment was unsealed today in federal court, following Blythers arrest by the FBI. - 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. How serious Parsons was about keeping contraband out of the prison remains unclear. Soon afterward, the suspects were escorted into offices where they received medical treatment. Others believe that it was somehow connected to his job. But prison officials did release the monthly figures, which show that the prison had 211 officers available to work in April. Now two NC men face prison. David Mitchell, a Harley-riding former Navy officer brought in to run the prison in 2014, was attacked three times in his first eight months once stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a dagger fashioned from melted plastic. She and her colleagues in the Charlotte SBI office were frequently called to investigate crimes there, including officers charged with bringing drugs to inmates.