The Investigative Unit has been looking into reports of an inmate at Elayn Hunt who was seriously beaten by corrections officers last weekend since Monday. 

On Thursday, the Department of Corrections admitted there was an "inappropriate use of force incident" involving inmate Torrance Verdin. 

Verdin was 15 when he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
He's 20 now and been at Elayn Hunt for about two years.

Torrence's mother Adlena Verdin said she was only made aware of what happened to her son when another inmate who witnessed the incident called to let her know he needed medical attention.

The inmate told her Torrence was beaten by officers for having a cell phone.

"He laid down and said 'I surrender' and they told him 'you don't love your life' and they put him in handcuffs and the beat him. They beat him," said Adlena. 

She says she was told multiple officers were involved.

"They asked the captain and the lieutenant for a 'blind spot.' They were looking for a spot where nobody could see where they could beat him or kill him away from the camera."

She was not able to speak to her son until the next day since he had been placed in investigative segregation.

"When I went to see him on Sunday, it was hard. I was scared. I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect. The visit was good, but before I left I had to watch them carry him because he couldn't walk because his leg was hurting and that was the hardest thing for me."

On Monday, two days after the incident, the Investigative Unit asked DOC for information and was told Verdin had a contraband cell phone, ran from officers, smashed the phone, then laid down on the ground to be cuffed.The spokesperson specifically said there was no use of force, and although Verdin complained of some pain and discomfort, he was checked out by two different hospital staffs and "cleared".

We then asked for clarification on what "cleared" meant, and was told Verdin had no injuries.

After receiving tips that the corrections officer involved in this incident had been suspended, we followed up with that question.

DOC responded saying "no officers/employees were placed on administrative leave due to this incident, as no such action was warranted," and reiterating that Verdin had no injuries.

According to Adlena, who obtained a copy of her son's discharge paper work from the hospital, Torrance was given morphine at the clinic and a muscle relaxer to take back to the prison for his pain.

The paper work confirms his pain is the result of an assault, which paramedics called "excessive use of force".
However besides the pain, it does not document any official injuries.

"If he had no injuries then, why? Why did he not walk with his own two legs?" asked Adlena.

On Thursday, DOC announced Warden Donnie Bordelon and an unnamed corrections officer had been suspended due to "an inappropriate use of force incident," which directly contradicted how they had classified the incident in previous emails.

Following that release, DOC and their attorney called to say the information the gave us at first was accurate with the knowledge they had at the time, but since then more information surfaced which led to the disciplinary action and new investigation.

Because Adlena says more than one officer beat her son, she believes more people need to be removed from their positions.

"The warden is gone, but who [are] these other people? They're gonna go do it at other jails. If they know to ask for a 'blind spot', they've done it before, and they'll do it again."