October 30, 2025
Ten years after Eric Moore Sr. died in police custody, a federal jury awarded his family over $40 million.
A family that spent the past decade seeking justice for Eric Moore Sr., who died in police custody in 2015, has been awarded more than $40 million.
A federal jury has awarded $42.75 million to Moore’s family following his death while in custody at Richwood Correctional Center, a Monroe, Louisiana, facility operated by LaSalle Corrections, WFAA reports. The jury found negligence by the company and its guards caused Moore’s death, awarding $1.5 million for pain and suffering, $6 million to each of his three adult children for wrongful death, and $23.25 million in punitive damages.
“They just treated my father like he wasn’t a human being,” said his son, Erie Moore Jr. “He suffered the entire time he was there.”
Moore Sr. was a 57-year-old retired mill worker with no criminal history when he was arrested in Monroe for a misdemeanor disturbing the peace while experiencing a mental health crisis. Jurors viewed jail surveillance footage showing guards repeatedly pepper-spraying him, striking him in the head, forcing him to the ground, and dropping him onto the floor.
“Within 36 hours of arriving at the LaSalle facility, Mr. Moore was being carried out, blood was filling his skull,” said Max Schoening, a California trial lawyer who tried the case. “He had suffered a traumatic brain injury in the jail, and he would never wake up again.”
Moore’s children spent the past decade in a prolonged legal battle. The case had been stalled by a series of lower court rulings favoring LaSalle and the city of Monroe. Initially represented by Shreveport attorney Nelson Cameron, the family later received support from Public Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group that took on the case after learning about Moore’s death. In 2022, a federal appeals court revived the lawsuit, paving the way for the recent trial that resulted in the $42.75 million award.
“For the past 10 years, my sisters and I have been tormented knowing he is not resting easy,” Erie Moore Jr. said. “This trial has shined light where there was darkness. It has brought our family truth, justice, and peace.”
A federal jury held three guards responsible for negligence, battery, and excessive force, and also found LaSalle Management Co., which operates Richwood Correctional Center, liable for Moore’s death due to at least one guard’s negligence. However, no criminal charges have been filed in connection with Moore’s death.
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