Former Marcy Correction Officer Christopher Walrath was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for his role in the death of a Black inmate, Robert Brooks, whose beating by a group of guards at an upstate New York prison was captured on bodycam videos.
Walrath was one of six guards charged with murder in the death of Robert Brooks, who was pummeled at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9. He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in May under the first plea deal among the guards charged with murder. His sentencing on Monday marks the first major conviction in the case.
Brooks, 41, was serving a 12-year sentence for assault. He had just been transferred to Marcy from another facility on the night of December 9 when the fatal beating took place. Video footage shows him being struck in the chest with a shoe, lifted by the neck, and dropped to the floor.
Under questioning in May from Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, Walrath admitted that he and other guards assaulted Brooks, that he put Brooks in a chokehold, and that he struck the inmate’s body and groin.
During the sentencing, Brooks’s son addressed the court and said, “In that video, I see you and your fellow officers treating him as if his life holds no value at all, as if you’re entitled to brutalize him for sport,” Robert Brooks Jr., the victim’s son, told the court. I am not OK and I never will be.”
In total, ten prison workers have been indicted. Alongside the six murder charges, three guards face manslaughter charges, and one was indicted for evidence tampering. Prosecutors said three of those workers have already accepted plea deals.
Walrath’s deal nullifies his murder charge and results in a 15-year prison term, instead of the potential 25 years to life.
Before Walrath was sentenced, impactful statements were made, not only from Robert Brooks’ son but also by special prosecutor Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick.
“I’m a prosecutor for 45 years,” Fitzpatrick stated. “I have difficulty watching that tape. I really do.”
A guard pleaded guilty in May to attempted tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge. Trials were scheduled to begin in October for guards who have rejected plea deals.
Fitzpatrick is also prosecuting guards in the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at another Marcy lockup, the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Ten guards were indicted in April, including two who are charged with murder. Both prisons are about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of New York City.
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Thank you my sister