Ten New York corrections officers were indicted in the 2024 de@th of inmate Robert Brooks, officials announced Thursday.
Six officers, Anthony Farina, Nicholas Anzalone, David Kingsley, Christopher Walrath, Matthew Gallagher, and one other unidentified officer, were charged with second-degree murder. Three others, Michael Mashaw, Michael Fisher, and David Walters, were charged with manslaughter, and Nicholas Gentile was charged with tampering with evidence.
Brooks, 43, had been serving a 12-year sentence since 2017 for a conviction of first-degree assault on his former girlfriend. He was recently transferred from Mohawk Correctional Facility to Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County.
On Dec. 9, 2024, multiple officers allegedly beat Brooks while handcuffed and inflicted serious injuries on him. He died the following morning at Wynn Hospital.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James released video footage from four of the officers’ body cameras of the incident. The Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Brooks had suffered extensive injuries, including bruising, fractures, and hemorrhaging in the area of his genitals, neck, and thyroid cartilage.
Asphyxiation was also evident, and the manner of de@th was ruled as homicide due to blunt force trauma and neck compression.
Concerns about the situation at Marcy Correctional Facility were raised even before Brooks’ de@th. In 2023, Jennifer Scaife, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, reported accounts of racial discrimination, abuse, and HALT Act violations, which is a law limiting the use of solitary confinement for certain vulnerable inmates.
Many of the correctional officers have opposed the HALT Act, stating that it makes the prisons more unsafe because it restricts disciplinary measures. There have been illegal wildcat strikes since February by the officers who are seeking better pay and defying the law.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated that the ones who killed Brooks should be brought to justice, as public safety remains a key concern. Brooks’ son characterized the indictments as “a step towards accountability.”
