Seven Florida Department of Corrections officers are facing charges in connection with an alleged inmate beating and cover-up at the Dade Correctional Institution in Florida City, investigators said. Six of the seven have been arrested, and four bonded out of jail by Thursday night in Miami-Dade County, court records show.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Lody Jean issued arrest warrants Monday for Lt. Shentrica Clark, Capt. Jochen Anglin, Officer Jordy Calero, Sgt. Travon Norman, Sgt. D’Andre Hill, Sgt. Richard Jackson, and Sgt. Freddie Morgan.
Allegations of abuse
According to arrest warrants, Clark, 40, a supervisor assigned to the prison’s Transitional Care Unit, ordered officers to escort inmate Christopher Castro to her office around 9:30 p.m. on April 5. Two officers, who are not facing charges, reported that they handcuffed Castro and brought him from a shower area to a location outside Clark’s office — an area without surveillance cameras — where they left him with Anglin, 32; Calero, 23; Norman, 29; Morgan, 35; Hill, 24; and Jackson.
The warrants allege Castro resisted before Calero, Norman, Jackson, Hill, and Morgan picked him up, threw him into a cell, and kicked and punched him repeatedly in the face, head, back, and arms while he was still in handcuffs. “Several witnesses observed that the victim had significant facial bruising, bleeding, and scratches,” the FDOC detective who investigated wrote.
The next day, a shift supervisor noticed Castro’s injuries and bloodstained shirt, ordered photographs, and sent him to the medical unit. That supervisor concluded Clark’s hand-off report was “egregiously false,” according to the warrant.
Investigators reported that someone had tried to clean blood from the holding cell. The FDOC detective said Clark had “ordered an inmate to clean the cell soon after” the incident. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office crime scene unit later collected DNA samples.
“All of these staff members were dismissed as quickly as administratively possible,” an FDOC spokesperson said Thursday.
Charges and bonds
Prosecutors filed cases Monday against Clark, Anglin, Calero, Norman, Hill, and Morgan. Clark was arrested Wednesday by the State Attorney’s Office and had her bond set Thursday at $5,500. She faces charges of tampering with physical evidence, a third-degree felony, and failure to report known or suspected unlawful abuse by a corrections employee, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Anglin, arrested Wednesday by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, had his bond set at $2,000. He is charged with perjury not in an official proceeding and failure to report known or suspected unlawful abuse.
Calero, Norman, Hill, and Morgan each face three charges: perjury not in an official proceeding, failure to report known or suspected unlawful abuse, and use of force or battery on a detainee. Bonds for Calero, Norman, and Hill were set at $3,000 each. Morgan, arrested Thursday, had not yet received a bond.
By Thursday night, Clark, Anglin, Norman, and Hill had bonded out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, while Calero and Morgan remained in custody. Judges Richard Hersch, Julie Harris Nelson, and Marcus Bach Armas are presiding over the cases.
Jackson has not been booked, though an arrest warrant charges him with perjury not in an official proceeding, failure to report known or suspected unlawful abuse, and use of force or battery on a detainee.
Inmate’s background
Castro, the alleged victim, has been in FDOC custody multiple times since 2012. His convictions in Hillsborough County include armed robbery in 2011, armed home invasion in 2015, and battery on a law enforcement officer in 2019 and 2021.
He is currently housed at Wakulla Correctional Institution Annex in Crawfordville, Fla., where his visitation privileges are suspended. As of Thursday night, his release date was listed as June 26, 2032.
