The mother of a man who was pepper sprayed in a Missouri prison and begged for help as he told staff he couldn’t breathe has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
The federal complaint was filed Sept. 5 in the Western District of Missouri. The lawsuit also seeks civil penalties for alleged violations of the Sunshine Law by the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Karen Pojmann, a spokeswoman for the department, said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Brandon Pace, 37, died on April 7, 2023, at Tipton Correctional Center, about two hours east of Kansas City.
According to the lawsuit, Pace, who was serving a four-year sentence, swallowed some methamphetamine. A corrections officer directed Pace to be strip searched, but he refused. The officer called on the Correctional Emergency Response Team, or CERT. One of the CERT officers brought a canister of pepper spray. The lawsuit said the large canister looks like a fire extinguisher and “is often called a ‘super-soaker’ because it delivers an excessive dose and is expressly used for large crowds and multiple targets.”
Another officer allegedly sprayed Pace, who was restrained and shackled, at close range in a confined space.
“Pace began screaming in pain, gasping for air, and saying ‘I can’t breathe.’ He kept saying, ‘Help me, I can’t breathe,’ over and over,” the lawsuit said.
It also said medical personnel ignored him for about four hours while he moaned “Help” and “I can’t breathe.” When his pleas stopped, a nurse checked on him. He had died.
Pace’s mother Tammy Reed was informed of his death around 10 p.m. that day. According to the lawsuit, she tried for days to get information about what happened. Her attorneys also requested records surrounding his death and video footage in the months that followed, but “no records were ever provided,” the lawsuit said, adding that the department “willfully refused to produce documents” that should have been available.
The lawsuit said the Department of Corrections “has a pattern and practice of turning a blind eye when its correctional officers sadistically use (pepper) spray to torture inmates and deny treatment thereafter.”
“There needs to be transparency and independent, outside law enforcement investigations of such deaths in custody – including Brandon’s death – to curb this cruel pattern of behavior,” said Tom Porto, a Kansas City attorney who is representing the family.
Eight months after Pace died, Othel Moore was beaten, pepper sprayed and shocked at a state prison in Jefferson City. He also reportedly said he couldn’t breathe. Five officers were indicted in Moore’s death in June.
Pace was one of 134 prisoners who died in the state prison system in 2023.
His autopsy report said he died from methamphetamine intoxication and was ruled accidental.
The lawsuit alleges violations by Centurion, the department’s medical provider; excessive force; constitutional violations regarding cruel and unusual punishment and due process; and wrongful death, among other counts.
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