New York corrections officers charged in beating death of handcuffed inmate
UTICA, N.Y. — Ten former New York corrections employees have been indicted in the death of Robert Brooks, an inmate who was violently beaten while handcuffed in a prison infirmary last year, officials said Thursday.
Brooks, 43, was beaten by multiple officers inside the Marcy Correctional Facility in central New York on Dec. 9 and died at a hospital the next day. Officers had not activated their body cameras, but video taken while the devices were in standby mode showed them punching, kicking and choking Brooks while his hands were handcuffed behind his back.
The attack sparked public outrage, prompting community protests and calls for justice. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul later ordered prison reforms and the immediate dismissal of more than a dozen corrections employees involved in the beating.
In an indictment unsealed Thursday, six former prison guards were charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter while four others faced lesser charges. Each one pleaded not guilty to their charges and most were offered bail.
Emotions were tense during the indictment sealing after some of the corrections officers involved were released on bail. Chants and cries of angers could be heard from outside the courtroom, where about 100 people had gathered.
"Murderer," one woman yelled after she was asked to leave the courtroom. A single man said "This isn't justice," after the last indictment was read.
What are the Marcy Correctional Facility workers accused of?
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said his office separated those involved into three tiers of responsibility: those that beat Brooks; those who were there in a position of power and did nothing; and those who were aware of what was happening and did nothing.
- Nicholas Anzalone was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. He was offered $100,000 cash bail or $250,000 bond.
- David Kingsley was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. He was offered $100,000 cash bail or $250,000 bail bond.
- Anthony Farina was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. He was offered $100,000 cash bail or $250,000 bail bond.
- Christopher Walrath was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. He was offered $100,000 cash bail or $250,000 bail bond.
- Mathew Galliher was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree gang assault. He was offered $100,000 cash bail or $250,000 bond.
- Michael Mashaw was charged with second-degree manslaughter. He was offered $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
- Michael Fisher was charged with second-degree manslaughter. He was offered $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond
- David Walters was charged with second-degree manslaughter. He was offered $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond
- Nicholas Gentile was charged with tampering with evidence. He was released on his own recognizance.
Another defendant, who was not named because they will be arraigned next week, was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree gang assault and first-degree offering a false instrument for file, according to Fitzpatrick.
Those offered bail or bond were either released or in the process of being released.
Three other prison employees entered into plea agreements but their names and the nature of their pleas and sentence agreements will be revealed only " ... as the case progresses," Fitzpatrick's office said. At least two current or former Marcy Correctional Facility employees and one current or former Mohawk Correctional Facility employee are also still under investigation, according to Fitzpatrick.
Prosecutor reveals Robert Brooks was beaten 3 separate times
According to the Onondaga County Medical Examiner, Brooks died of a "massive beating" — suffering from external and internal injuries that lead to his death.
"Several of his internal organs were bruised. His hyoid bone was fractured. His thyroid cartilage was ripped. He also died as a result of repeated restrictions to his airways, causing severe brain damage," Fitzpatrick said. "And finally, he died by choking on his own blood."
An investigation from Fitzpatrick's office revealed that in addition to the Dec. 9 beating caught on camera, Brooks was attacked in two separate instances. Fitzpatrick said from the moment Brooks arrived at the Marcy Correctional Facility, he was being beaten.
"It's difficult to comprehend," Fitzpatrick said. "On Monday, Dec. 9, at around 9:07 p.m., Brooks was transferred from Mohawk Correctional Facility to Marcy Correctional Facility and half an hour later, he was clinically dead."
After stepping off the bus, Brooks was taken into the arsenal — an area between bus pickup and the correctional facility, according to Fitzpatrick. From there, he was beaten on the way to the infirmary, where all new inmates are supposed to be given a physical before being put into general population.
Brooks' final and fatal beating was delivered in the infirmary and captured by the officers' body cameras.
Robert Brooks' son: 'My father's death will not be in vain'
At a news conference on Thursday, Robert Brooks Jr., the son of Brooks, said these indictments are a necessary and important step toward accountability.
"These men killed my father, on camera," he said. "All the world could see what happened. Waiting for these charges has been incredibly hard. These men must be prosecuted and convicted for what they have done. But even the convictions aren't enough."
"Any person with authority who allowed this violence and abuse must also be held accountable," Robert Brooks Jr. added. "I pledge and my family pledge to not stop until we see change in how our state prisons are operated so that no one else has to go through what my family and I have gone through. My father's death will not be in vain."
Robert Brooks' brother, Jared Ricks, said in a statement that the indictments bring some measure of relief to his family as they grieve his brother’s loss.
"No one is above the law," he wrote.
Latest high-profile case involving U.S. prisons
Federal and state investigations have uncovered pervasive problems in prisons across the country, including official misconduct and corruption, and physical and sexual abuse by staff.
Brooks joins a list of state inmates who have died after run-ins with New York prison guards in recent years, the Paste BN Network's New York State Team previously reported.
Over the past 20 years, civil rights attorney Katie Rosenfeld has filed several lawsuits against the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, for mistreatment of inmates at the Marcy Correctional Facility and elsewhere.
In another lawsuit filed in 2023, civil rights attorney Amy Jane Agnew said Marcy Correctional Facility officers retaliate against inmates by meting out assaults during van rides when they’re alone with officers.
Prisons in Alabama have also come under national scrutiny for violence against prisoners. Federal investigators in 2020 found "frequent uses of excessive force" in 12 of 13 state prisons under review. And in December 2023, a group of former and current prisoners sued Alabama for its prison labor system, calling it a "modern-day form of slavery," and alleging chronic mistreatment.
Another ongoing issue in U.S. prisons is the sexual abuse of adult inmates. Thousands of inmate-on-inmate and staff-on-inmate incidents were reported from 2016 through 2018, according to a special report by the Justice Department released in 2023.
A federal prison for female inmates in Dublin, California, was closed last year following a series of criminal indictments of prison employees who were accused of exploiting their authority and sexually abusing inmates in their custody.
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund and Minnah Arshad, Paste BN; Thomas C. Zambito, Paste BN Network - New York State Team