MONROE, La (KNOE) – A jury returned with a verdict awarding $42.75 million to the family of a man who died from injuries sustained as an inmate in Richwood Correctional Center.
On October 21, 2025, the jury found Richwood Correctional Center, its owner LaSalle Management Company, and three employees liable for damages related to the death of Erie Moore Sr. Moore’s family originally filed a lawsuit in 2016. During closing arguments, the plaintiff’s lawyer claimed LaSalle had no care for inmates and that excessive force was used against Moore.
Erie Moore Sr. was arrested by the Monroe Police Department for disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor charge. Moore’s time inside the Richwood Correctional Center is documented through hours of security camera footage. It shows he is booked into the facility around 7:45 a.m. on October 12, 2015. He is placed in an isolation lockdown cell. That night, around 9 p.m., Moore is joined in the cell by Vernon White, a man who had gotten into a separate fight in another area.
According to the lawsuit, officers responded to the fight by using mace and an impact weapon to restrain Moore. Security camera footage shows Moore being sprayed multiple times, thrown onto his head, hit and dropped.
“His head was filling up with blood from a fatal head injury that he suffered at the hands of the guards inside that jail,” said the plaintiff’s trial lawyer, Max Schoening.
Moore died a month later, on November 14, 2015, from a hematoma. The Ouachita Parish coroner ruled his death a homicide caused by head injuries.
Erie Jr. was one of several plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit on behalf of the late Erie Moore Sr., who died in 2015 from a hematoma.(Source: Moore family)
After ten years, the lawsuit ended up in the United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, with two weeks of a jury trial.
During closing arguments, the plaintiffs argued there was no oversight of officers to ensure policy was followed. The defendants claimed that Moore was not compliant with correctional staff, and it was not clear when the fatal injury occurred. They also argued that Moore could have faced a homicide charge related to his fight with White.
The verdict awarded Moore’s family $19.5 million for the death. The family was also awarded $23.25 million in punitive damages.
Erie Moore Sr. died on Nov. 14, 2015, from a hematoma. The Ouachita Parish coroner ruled his death a homicide caused by head injuries.(Source: Moore family)
According to district court documents, LaSalle Management Company, Richwood Correctional Center, and three employees of LaSalle who went to trial were held civilly liable for their actions by the jury.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Nelson Cameron, said that because LaSalle and Richwood are likely vicariously liable for the actions of their employees, the companies will likely be cast in judgment to pay the employees’ percentages.
The district judge said in court that this is the most complex case he’s worked in his legal career. The family’s attorneys spent nine years building a case and say they are more than satisfied with the outcome.
“This vindicates, I believe, Mr. Erie Moore senior’s life that it was needlessly taken. And hopefully we’ll see a lot of great changes coming in the prison system, the for-profit prison system in the near future,” Cameron said.
Schoening said Moore’s life was a gift, and it ended too early.
“And there’s been 10 years of darkness of cover-up, of lies. And what had happened in this trial is that the jury shined a light on what happened, and the jury established the truth of what happened. And after 10 years of the courage of Mr. Moore’s children fighting for 10 years, the jury delivered justice,” Schoening said.
Erie Moore Sr. pictured with his grandson. Moore died in 2015 from injuries sustained as an inmate in Richwood Correctional Center.(Source: Moore family)
“Everybody’s human. And you shouldn’t put your authority on people when they can’t do anything for themselves,” said a member of Moore’s family. “So, I hope it does set an example going forward.”
KNOE has reached out to five of the defense lawyers in this case to learn if there is an appeal planned, but we have not heard back.
Copyright 2025 KNOE. All rights reserved.