4 guards sentenced in brutal beating death of an incarcerated Black man at New York prison
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — Four prison guards were involved in the death of an incarcerated black man The men whose brutal beatings were captured on body cameras at an upstate New York prison last year were each sentenced Friday.
There were four pleaded guilty That was in September, just two weeks before the start of the trial of a group of guards accused in the death of Robert Brooks, who was beaten while handcuffed at the Marcy Correctional Center on Dec. 9. The beating of the 43-year-old restrained man triggered anger and calls for reform.
Nicholas Anzalone and Anthony Farina, who both faced a higher-level murder charge before pleading guilty to a first-degree manslaughter charge, were each sentenced to 22 years in prison. Two more men charged with second-degree manslaughter pleaded guilty. Michael Mashaw was sentenced to three to nine years in prison, while David Walters was sentenced to two years, four months to seven years in prison.
Brooks had been serving a 12-year prison sentence for first-degree assault since 2017 and was transferred to Marcy from a nearby jail the night of the beating. The videos show Brooks being hit in the chest with a shoe, being picked up by his neck, then being dropped.
During the hearing, prosecutors read statements from Brooks’ relatives, including his brother Jared Ricks, who wrote that they hoped the “welcoming committee” would show the four defendants more kindness than they did their brother when they arrived at the state prison as inmates. Syracuse.com reported.
The victim’s son, Robert Brooks Jr., wrote that watching the video of his father’s fatal beating was like watching a horror movie.
“I pray that this case teaches others that they cannot treat incarcerated people like animals,” he wrote.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, the special prosecutor in the case, said the two men were not allowed to read their statements themselves because of the objections of all four defense attorneys after Fitzpatrick failed to produce the necessary paperwork.
The first plea in the case came last May, when a guard accused of murder pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter under a deal with prosecutors. Christopher Walrath, who resigned, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in August.
another one The guard pleaded guilty in late May He was sentenced to one year of probation for attempting to tamper with physical evidence.
The trial of three other guards charged with murder and first-degree manslaughter concluded last month with a jury convicting David Kingsley on both counts but acquitting the other two, Mathew Galliher and Nicholas Kieffer. Kingsley faces a possible life sentence if convicted, while the final guard, Michael Fisher, is scheduled to stand trial in January on charges of second-degree manslaughter.
Fitzpatrick is also suing the guards Fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at another Marcy prison, Mid-State Penitentiary. Eight guards reached plea deals in the case, while five other guards, two of whom are accused of murder, are scheduled to stand trial in March.
Both prisons are approximately 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of New York City.
