Ten former New York corrections officers have been indicted by a grand jury for the death of inmate Robert Brooks Sr. at Marcy Correctional Facility upstate.
Brooks, 43, died the day after he was transferred from one prison to another in December 2024. His death was ruled a homicide after body camera video showed officers punching him while he was handcuffed.
“Robert [Brooks] died of massive beating to his body, both externally and internally. 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. And finally, he died by choking on his own blood,” Onandaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said after the indictment.
In the most serious charges brought, former corrections officers Anthony Farina, Nicholas Anzalone, David Kingsley, Christopher Walrath and Matthew Gallagher were indicted for second degree murder, which carries a lifelong prison sentence.
Former corrections officers Michael Mashaw, Michael Fisher and David Walters were charged with second degree manslaughter. Former officer Nicholas Gentile was charged with tampering with evidence. The lesser charges carry up to 15 years and up to 4 years in prison, respectively.
An additional defendant indicted for second degree murder did not surrender himself, but will be arraigned soon, and three former corrections officers reached plea agreements, Fitzpatrick said. Others are still being investigated.
“He did absolutely nothing,” New York special prosecutor says
Fitzpatrick said investigators concluded Brooks was involved in two unprovoked beating incidents prior to his death.
“Our investigation further revealed that there was no provocation by Robert Brooks that would have precipitated any physical response whatsoever,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think any sentient human being looking at the tapes naturally comes to the conclusion that he must’ve said something, he must’ve spit at the officers, he must’ve resisted in some way. The fact of the matter is, he did absolutely nothing.”
“Robert Brooks should be alive today. The brutal attack on Mr. Brooks was sickening, and I immediately moved to terminate the employment of those involved. Now, the perpetrators have been rightfully charged with murder and State Police are making arrests,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement released.
Fitzpatrick took over the case as special prosecutor after state Attorney General Letitia James recused herself over a potential conflict of interest, saying four of the officers under investigation were being represented by lawyers in her office in previous brutality lawsuits. His office had said a “noteworthy development” would be announced before a state judge Thursday afternoon, but did not immediately provide any other details. Fitzpatrick previously said he would not comment on the investigation until a grand jury had acted.
Beating of Robert Brooks Sr. caught on body camera
Body camera video released by James’ office showed multiple corrections officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in Onondaga County punching Brooks while he was handcuffed on a medical examination table on Dec. 9, 2024. The officers were seen hitting Brooks in the chest with a shoe and lifting him up by his neck and then dropping him.
Brooks died the next day. The county medical examiner’s office ruled his death was a homicide, caused by compression of the neck and multiple blunt trauma injuries.
“I want them all to get prosecuted. It was murder, there’s no other word for it,” his son, Robert Brooks Jr., told CBS Mornings in an interview last month. “They murdered my father, they robbed him from me. He doesn’t get to come home.”
Brooks had served nine years of a 12-year prison sentence for stabbing his son’s mother. He was transferred to the prison from a nearby facility only hours before the beating.
“He did the crime, and he was doing the time. He was coming home a reformed — that’s what prison is for, and that’s not what my father got. He got a death sentence,” Brooks Jr. said.
The family filed a civil rights lawsuit, alleging the prison used excessive force in a system that tolerates violence.
Gov. Kathy Hochul visits Marcy Correctional Facility
Outcry over Brooks’ beating prompted Hochul to visit the correctional facility, which is located about 200 miles northwest of New York City, between Rome and Utica.
Hochul named a new superintendent to run the prison and vowed to expedite $400 million for new cameras at the facility. She also ordered the state to initiate firing proceedings for more than a dozen employees.
“Today, as I stood in the room where Robert Brooks was killed, I was once again heartbroken by this unnecessary loss of life and further sickened to think of the actions of depraved individuals with no regard for human life,” the governor said in a statement after her visit. “Mr. Brooks and his family did not deserve this.”
So far, 15 nurses and two officers have been suspended without pay, pending the investigation. At least one officer quit.
Even before the Brooks case, employees at the medium-security prison had been accused of abuse.
A watchdog group reported “rampant abuse by staff” after interviewing people incarcerated there in October 2022. The Correctional Association of New York said it was told of physical assaults in locations without cameras, such as between the gates, in vans and in showers. A guard told one new arrival this was a “‘hands-on facility,’ we’re going to put hands on you if we don’t like what you’re doing,” the report said.
contributed to this report.
