ST. LOUIS — A former St. Louis City Justice Center corrections officer was sentenced to four years in prison after she admitted to being involved in the assault of a detainee by opening a cell door for attackers to get to their victim.
In February, Demeria Thomas, 39, pleaded guilty in federal court to deprivation of rights under color of law in connection with the March 2021 attack. On Wednesday, she was sentenced to four years in prison.
A probable cause statement said video surveillance showed Thomas speaking with two detainees, Kevin Jerome Moore and Antonio L. Holt, before they approached the victim's cell door. It stated that Holt signaled Thomas, who opened the cell door and then did not intervene as the two attackers beat their victim for three to four minutes.
Moore and Holt were charged with third-degree assault in the incident.
The court documents state that Thomas watched the cell and the assault, prevented other inmates from approaching the cell and eventually walked to the cell to tell Holt and Moore to leave before closing the cell door.
The charging documents say that Thomas did not seek medical attention for the victim, whose injuries were "discovered" two days later. The victim was then taken to a hospital for a suspected concussion and broken jaw.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Sayler Flemming, the victim’s mother said in a letter that the victim still suffers from PTSD, headaches and seizures from the attack.
“The person who was supposed to keep him safe is the one who instigated this attack,” the victim's mother said in the letter.
When asked for comment in March of 2021, a spokesperson for the city relayed a statement attributed to public safety director Jimmie Edwards: "As soon as the corrections divisions was made aware, we immediately contacted the police department to begin an independent investigation, and that's exactly what happened."
Holt was serving sentences for stealing and burglary at the time of the attack. Moore was awaiting trial for robbery and armed criminal action.
