Charges have been filed against 10 corrections officers in connection with the death of Robert Brooks, an inmate who prosecutors allege was murdered at a New York State prison while handcuffed in December 2024.
Nicholas Anzalone, David Kingsley, Anthony Farina, Christopher Walrath, Mathew Galliher and an additional suspect — whose name was redacted from a grand jury indictment — have each been charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter.
Galliher was additionally charged with second-degree gang assault, and Anzalone was charged with filing a false report.
Michael Mashaw, Michael Fisher and David Walters are charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Nicholas Gentile is charged with tampering with physical evidence.
“Robert Brooks should be alive today,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a Thursday, Feb. 20, statement. “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.”
Brooks’ son Robert called the charges against the officers a “necessary and important step toward accountability.”
“These men killed my father, on camera,” he said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “All the world could see what happened. Waiting for these charges has been incredibly hard. These men must be fully prosecuted and convicted for what they have done. But even the convictions of these corrections officers for the murder of my father will not be enough. Every person in authority who allowed this system of violence and abuse to exist and continue for so long must also be held accountable. We pledge not to rest until we see meaningful 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.”
On the evening of Dec. 9, Brooks, 43, was transferred to the Marcy Correctional Facility, according to a charging document obtained by PEOPLE.
The document alleges that Brooks, who was handcuffed, was assaulted twice by Anzalone, Walrath and another officer en route to the infirmary for a medical checkup. Once at the emergency room of the infirmary, Brooks “was, at various times, restrained, beaten, choked, gagged, forcibly moved and kicked, all with minimal resistance on the part of Mr. Brooks and with no legitimate law enforcement purpose,” the charging document claims.
Per the document, the corrections officers “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 document, Mashaw, the ranking corrections officer in the infirmary emergency room, along with Walters and Fisher, failed to intervene during the attack. Walters, per the document, “verbally instructed the nurse not to enter the emergency room.”
Anzalone was further charged with first-degree offering a false instrument for filing for allegedly falsifying paperwork required after use of force incidents. Gentile was charged with tampering with physical evidence for allegedly cleaning “the area of Robert Brooks’ blood stains in an effort to conceal the existence of said assault.”
Brooks died due to multiple blunt force injuries and compression to the neck, Brooks family attorney Elizabeth Mazur told PEOPLE.
Bodycam footage shows the 10-minute incident, during which Brooks was on an examination table. The footage shows an officer “hammering Brooks repeatedly with the heel of his shoe and another officer lifting Robert by the neck using a chokehold,” according to a civil rights lawsuit filed by the family.
At the time of his death, Brooks was serving a 12-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to stabbing a former girlfriend, according to court and prison documents, The New York Times reported.
“It’s really hard to get justice in cases like these,” says Mazur. “And I think seeing these officers face criminal charges is one piece of getting justice for this family. They very much want to see some broader changes to make sure that no one else goes through something like this too.”