Jail guard opens cell door letting 2 inmates attack another for minutes

 

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis City Justice Center guard has been charged for opening a jail cell door for two inmates, allowing them to attack another inmate for several minutes. The charges were filed Friday, March 26, 2021.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, per the charges, surveillance footage showed inmates Antonio Holt, 39, and Kevin Moore, 39, speaking to the guard. Holt then went to an inmate’s cell.

Holt looked back at the guard, 38-year-old Demeria Thomas, prompting her to open the cell door that belonged to another male inmate.

The charges then said Holt began beating the inmate for 3 to 4 minutes. Moore also walked in the cell to hit the man several times.

“Thomas looks directly toward the victim’s cell and watches as the assault occurs,” Officer Brandon Clark wrote in a probable cause statement. “Further, when other inmates attempt to walk downstairs toward the victim’s cell, seemingly to see what is occurring, she tells them, “stay where you are.'”

After Holt and Moore left, Thomas closed the cell door and went back to her podium. She did not report the assault. The incident was discovered two days later.

The court documents say the victim had “visible lacerations and abrasions to his face, ears, and neck.” He was later hospitalized for a broken jaw and a suspected concussion.

Thomas, Holt, and Moore were each charged with one felony count of third-degree assault.

A spokesman for Mayor Krewson said the corrections department is working to put Thomas on forced leave. She was hired in Oct. 2006.

by: Karis K. Gamble, fox2now.com