Ten prison employees face charges including second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and tampering of evidence in connection with the Dec. 10 death of inmate Robert Brooks Sr. after he was violently beaten at Marcy Correctional Facility near Utica.
The indictments, which were handed to Oneida County Court last week by a grand jury, were unsealed Thursday and alleged the defendants acted with “depraved indifference to human life” as several officers beat Brooks, while other defendants did nothing to stop the abuse.
The charges are the latest developments as the assault — which was passively recorded on officers' body cameras — laid bare issues of violence at state prison facilities, sparked outrage across the country and prompted calls for prison reform by lawmakers and advocates.
Six people have been or will be charged with second-degree murder, three with manslaughter and one with tampering of evidence. The name of one individual, who is facing murder, gang assault and making a false statement charges, was redacted in court filings. All but the unnamed individual surrendered to State Police and were arrested Thursday.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who oversaw the investigation as special prosecutor, said in a news conference Thursday that he was alarmed by the officers’ apparent indifference to Brooks’ life.
“The way that everyone was just going about their business as if this was acceptable behavior,” Fitzpatrick said in recounting the defendants’ conduct. “There’s no justification for what they did.”
Brooks’ son said he had been waiting for charges to be filed since his father's death.
“These men need to be prosecuted and convicted for the crimes they’ve made,” Robert Brooks Jr. said.
But even the convictions of the employees wouldn't be enough, he said.
"Any person with authority who allows abuse and violence to go on for so long also needs to be held accountable," Brooks Jr. said.
The grand jury presented a damning portrait of what happened on Dec. 9 to Brooks, who had been recently transferred to the facility from a nearby one while serving a 12-year sentence related to stabbing his former girlfriend.
Several officers, the indictments allege, beat Brooks while he was handcuffed to a medical bed. The indictment alleges that several officers attempted to cover up the beating by tampering with evidence and delivering false statements regarding the incident. Additionally, the charges read, a defendant stopped a nurse from attending to Brooks’ injuries.
“These beatings and other assaults were perpetrated by defendants, while acting in concert with each other,” the document reads. “In addition to the beatings, defendants with depraved indifference, did nothing to restrain each other, did nothing to stop the beatings and failed to immediately order medical assistance for Mr. Brooks.”
According to the indictment, Brooks suffered injuries to his head, neck, hyoid bone, thyroid cartilage, torso, liver, spleen and testicles. An autopsy report in January filed by a medical examiner ruled Brooks’ death a homicide because of “compression of the neck and multiple blunt impact injuries.”
More than a dozen employees — including sergeants, corrections officers and nurses — have been suspended in connection with the incident. While the New York Attorney General Letitia James' office was initially overseeing the investigation, James recused her office in January and appointed Fitzpatrick as special prosecutor because it was defending some of the corrections officers in different cases.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who called the attack on Brooks “sickening,” has called for a “complete culture study” of New York’s prisons that will be conducted by experts from other states.
“It was shocking to know that this had gone on, and if it wasn't for some body cameras, who knows if we would have known about it,” she said at a separate news conference Thursday. “Today will hopefully be a chapter [in] restoring the faith of people that when people cross the line and engage in such horrific acts, that there are severe consequences.”
Oneida County Court Judge Robert Bauer set bail for the defendants ranging up to $100,000 cash or $250,000 bond. Three individuals not named in the indictments have reached plea agreements with Fitzpatrick, while three others are still under investigation.
