A judge has significantly lowered the detention bond for an EMS worker who is facing accusations of murdering a Black man in Illinois.
On Friday, Aug. 4, Peggy Finley appeared in court to determine whether she would need to maintain a bond of $1 million as she defends herself against charges related to the compressional and positional asphyxiation death of Earl Moore Jr. on Dec. 18, 2022, according to ABC 20.
Peggy Finley Accused of Suffocating Black Man
Peggy Finley, left is accused of suffocating Earl Moore Jr., right. (Photos: (Photo Sangamon Co. Sheriff’s Dept., Facebook/Earl Moore)
According to Sangamon County state’s attorney Dan Wright, Earl Moore Jr., a 35-year-old resident of Springfield, lost his life while under the care of two EMS workers: Finley and Peter Cadigan.
Moore was hallucinating from alcohol withdrawal as he was being restrained face-down on a gurney, Law and Crime reports.
Both EMS workers have been apprehended and are now charged with first-degree murder after an autopsy found the asphyxiation death of a man in distress that night was caused by the prone restraint.
Finley faces first-degree murder charges.
Prosecutors say she “performed acts which caused the death of Earl Moore, Jr., without legal justification, in that said Defendant and Peter Cadigan, tightened restraints across Earl Moore, Jr.’s back and lower body in the prone position and transported Earl Moore, Jr. to St. John’s Hospital […] thereby causing death by compressional and positional asphyxia, said defendant knowing based upon [her] training, experience, and the surrounding circumstances that such acts would create a strong probability of great bodily harm or death.”
