NY Gov. Hochul says December prison beating death ruled a homicide

• An autopsy found the death of 43-year-old inmate Robert Brooks was a homicide, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. Brooks was an inmate at the state’s Marcy Correctional Facility.
• Body camera footage from December shows corrections officers punching and beating Brooks, who died the next day from related injuries.
• Hochul urged prosecutors to quickly bring charges against the officers. She previously fired 14 people involved or present in the fatal incident.

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday, Feb. 5, that an autopsy found that the death of Robert Brooks was a homicide. The 43-year-old died late last year as an inmate at the Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

On the night of Dec. 9, corrections officers carried Brooks into a medical exam room. Video showed the officers punching and beating Brooks while another stuffed a white cloth into his mouth.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Brooks died the next morning of injuries suffered in the attack.

Days after Brooks died, the state released body camera footage of the fatal incident. Additionally, Hochul ordered the firing of 14 officers who were either involved or did not intervene.

The autopsy now opens the door to criminal charges against the officers, which Hochul said should come quickly.

“I believe the legal process must quickly move forward with criminal charges being filed and arrests being made,” Hochul said in a statement Wednesday. “Those responsible for Mr. Brooks’ death must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law, and I recognize the need to build an airtight prosecution to ensure those individuals are brought to justice. This reprehensible act of violence demands the full force of our justice system — the family of Mr. Brooks deserves no further delays.”

The beating happened on the day Brooks arrived in a transfer to Marcy Correctional Facility, which has faced scrutiny before over its treatment of prisoners.

In 2022, the Correctional Association of New York, a prison watchdog, released a report in which they found what they described as “rampant abuse by staff” and “pervasive allegations of racial discrimination” at the facility.