John Jefferson
Andrew Lansing and Rahsawn Cannon (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction).
A prison inmate, who was behind bars for pistol-whipping a woman, made a beeline for a guard and fatally beat him, say Ohio authorities. The victim, Andrew Lansing, had been working that Christmas morning at Ross Correctional Institution so that others could have time off.
“Andy Lansing elected to work voluntary overtime so that other people didn’t have to and could have Christmas off. That’s what he was doing there,” Director Annette Chambers-Smith of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said, according to Youngstown CBS affiliate WKBN. “Cannon’s unit was released to go to the dining hall, which is why he was on the yard. He veered away from going to the dining hall and instead went to where Officer Lansing was working, and attacked him brutally.”
She noted that Lansing had written a conduct report against Rashawn Cannon in April for disrespect, threats, and disobedience to a direct order. Cannon was guilty of two of the three charges, she said.
With that said, investigators were working to determine the motive.
“Officer Lansing is a long-time, well-respected employee at Ross, and his untimely death — on Christmas Day — is heartbreaking for his family, the entire Ross Correctional Institution family, and our agency as a whole,” Chambers-Smith said in a statement. “Officer Lansing was loved by his colleagues and known to be a great support for his fellow RCI staff. He was a friendly, outgoing officer who treated everyone with respect and was always a professional. The loss of a staff person is difficult, but to lose a family member on Christmas Day at the hands of someone in our custody is a tragedy beyond comprehension. Instead of going home after his shift to be with his family on this holiday, Officer Lansing made the ultimate sacrifice, and our agency will never be the same.”
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Cannon, 27, has a criminal record dating back to age 15, even robbing his own uncle at gunpoint when age 18, according to Oklahoma City Fox affiliate KOKH. When unsuccessfully seeking early release in 2020, he wrote, “One of my biggest areas that I am working on is acting off impulse cause that is what fails me every time.”
He later got out on probation but wound up back behind bars and was sentenced for the pistol-whipping incident in 2023. He was set for an expected release in 2030, records show. Authorities said he broke the woman’s nose, loosened her teeth, and split her lip.
Cannon is now charged with aggravated murder while in detention, according to Spectrum News.
Lansing’s death also intensified friction between the state’s prison system and the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association. President Christopher Mabe wrote Gov. Mike DeWine, asking him to put Chambers-Smith on administrative leave during the investigation into Lansing’s death.
He told The Columbus Dispatch that the prison was understaffed, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that they were short-staffed by as many as 40 officers as of Christmas. To attract more employees, they needed better pay to match the dangers officers face, he said.
Chambers-Smith has said that every post that was supposed to be filled that day had been filled, but acknowledged an 11% vacancy rate — about 40 open positions — among guards and staff, which was due to newly created positions for death row and security, according to Columbus NBC affiliate WCMH. Nineteen people had start dates between the report date of Sunday and Jan. 21.
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