A federal grand jury has indicted four former East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office (EBRSO) employees on seventeen counts, including civil rights violations, conspiracy, making false reports, and witness tampering, related to alleged assaults on inmates at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison (EBRPP). The charges target former deputies and corporals Aaron Johnson, Kenyakai Domino, Darius Powell, and Lionel James.
Aaron Johnson, 29, faces three counts of abuse of rights under color of law, including striking a pretrial detainee in the head with a metal folding chair. Kenyakai Domino, 29, is charged with two counts, one for allegedly slamming an inmate’s head into a doorframe. Darius Powell, 24, and Lionel James, 30, face two and one count, respectively, for similar conduct.
All four men are also charged with conspiring to cover up the assaults and falsifying reports. Johnson and Powell additionally face witness tampering counts. The indictment details how the defendants allegedly used isolated areas of the prison, such as sally ports and interview rooms lacking surveillance, to assault unresisting inmates. Three of these attacks reportedly involved dangerous weapons and resulted in bodily injury. The conspiracy involved creating false cover stories, text discussions about investigators, and a social media post by Powell regarding an assault.
Johnson served as a field training officer, while Domino and James held supervisory roles. In a related case, former EBRSO corporal Christian Morris pleaded guilty on June 2, 2026, to one count of abuse of rights for failing to intervene during an inmate assault.
U.S. Attorney Kurt Wall said, "when someone in a position of trust has violated that responsibility, it is our job to make certain that they are held accountable." Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Tapp of the FBI New Orleans Field Office emphasized that the FBI "take these types of allegations against law enforcement officers very seriously." The defendants face up to ten years imprisonment for abuse of rights and conspiracy, and up to twenty years for false report and witness tampering offenses. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty.