Family of Erie Moore Sr. Wins Historic Verdict Against LaSalle Management Co.
A Louisiana federal jury has awarded more than $40 million to the family of Erie Moore Sr., a 57-year-old man who died of head injuries after being brutally handled while in custody at the privately run Richwood Correctional Center.
The verdict, delivered this week in the Western District of Louisiana, holds LaSalle Management Co. and three of its guards liable for negligence, battery, and excessive force.
Moore, a mill worker and father of three with no prior criminal record, was arrested in Monroe, Louisiana, in 2015 for disturbing the peace at a doughnut shop. According to court records, Moore was experiencing mental distress and became “agitated and noncompliant” while being booked.
Instead of receiving medical attention, Moore was pepper-sprayed at least eight times over 36 hours, attorney Max Schoening said. Video evidence submitted in court shows guards slamming Moore to the ground, then later carrying him by his limbs—dropping him headfirst when one officer stumbled.
He was taken to a secluded area of the jail with no cameras, where guards continued to use force against him. For nearly two hours, Moore remained out of sight as no one called for medical assistance.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived to transfer him, Moore was already unconscious. He was taken to a hospital, where doctors found him comatose. He died weeks later. The Ouachita Parish coroner ruled his death a homicide caused by head trauma.
The jury awarded Moore’s three adult children $19.5 million in compensatory damages and $23.25 million in punitive damages. No criminal charges have been filed against any of the officers involved.
“This trial has shined light where there was darkness,” said Erie Moore Jr., the victim’s son. “It has brought our family truth, justice, and peace.”
Legal experts say the verdict could mark a turning point for accountability in privately managed detention facilities. “This is the largest compensatory damage award I have ever heard of,” said Jay Aronson, author of Death in Custody: How America Ignores the Truth and What We Can Do about It.
LaSalle Management Co., which ran the Richwood Correctional Center from 2001 to 2019, operates multiple detention centers across Louisiana and Texas. The facility now serves as a federal immigration detention site under contract with ICE, which last year called LaSalle an “important part” of its detention system.
Neither LaSalle nor the City of Monroe has commented on the verdict.
Schoening called the ruling “a historic victory for civil rights,” saying, “LaSalle Management Co. ended [Moore’s life] with utter indifference. His children’s persistence brought justice not just for their father, but for others who’ve suffered unseen in America’s jails.”
