Florida Correction Officer Declared not Guilty of killing Inmate in Prison; Cried and Thanked Everyone

Miami, FL: Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Teresa Pooler announced the jury’s verdict of not guilty. With every statement, Ronald Connor’s grip tightened and his eyes welled up.

After the judge declared him not guilty for the sixth time, Connor couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotions. He lowered his head, removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes before embracing the public defenders who had stood by his side. Family and friends in the pews of the Miami-Dade criminal courthouse followed the judge’s instructions to remain silent, but their expressions of pure joy were evident in their hugs and high-fives.

Connor, 26, a former guard at the state’s Dade Correctional Institution, was acquitted of all charges except one in the case of a mentally ill prisoner’s death during a transfer to another facility two years ago. Leading up to the trial, three additional guards confessed to fatally assaulting Ronald Gene Ingram.

They were both sentenced to 20 years each. All three individuals provided testimony during the trial. After a nearly two-week trial, the jurors reached a verdict after three hours of deliberation. They found Connor guilty of a single count of culpable negligence, which is a misdemeanour charge carrying a maximum penalty of one year in prison.

However, Judge Pooler determined that Connor’s two-year pretrial detention was sufficient, and he was given credit for time served.

Following the verdict, Connor was accompanied by corrections officers back to the Miami-Dade County jail, where he needed to complete some paperwork before being released as a free man.

Ingram, aged 60, tragically lost his life two years ago when he declined to vacate his cell at the Dade Correctional Institution near Florida City. During the incident, he also threw urine at a guard named Jeremy Godbolt. Ingram was scheduled to be transferred to a North Florida prison that was expected to offer him improved care. Ingram had chosen not to take his medication the night before his transfer.

Godbolt, frustrated, called for assistance to have Ingram removed from his cell. However, prior to the guards’ readiness to remove him, a senior officer convinced the elderly man to exit his cell and secured his hands behind his back with handcuffs.

During the following minutes, state prosecutors revealed that a number of guards brutally assaulted Ingram, kicking and beating him with such intensity that they deliberately kept themselves out of the camera’s view. Eventually, they had to assist him outside and place him on a bench before continuing.

Tragically, his lifeless body was discovered in the rear of a transport van while making a stop on the journey north.

The three guards were convicted of multiple charges including second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, aggravated abuse of an elderly person, conspiracy to commit aggravated abuse of the elderly, cruel use of use-of-force, and use-of-force while battering a detainee, prior to Connor’s trial. Despite reaching a plea agreement for a 20-year prison term, the sentencing has not yet taken place.