Four correctional officers in New York state have received prison sentences for their roles in the fatal beating of a handcuffed Black inmate, Robert Brooks, an incident that has intensified demands for reform within the US penal system.
The Sentencing and Charges
The sentences were handed down on Friday, 21 November 2025, following guilty pleas entered in September. Nicholas Anzalone and Anthony Farina, who initially faced murder charges, each received a 22-year prison term after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
Michael Mashaw was sentenced to three to nine years, and David Walters received two years, four months to seven years, both for second-degree manslaughter. The assault occurred on 9 December 2024 at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County.
A Brutal Death Captured on Camera
The 43-year-old victim, Robert Brooks, was serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault dating back to 2017. He had been transferred to Marcy from a nearby lockup on the very night of the assault.
Graphic body-camera footage, which later became central to the prosecution's case, showed the handcuffed man being struck in the chest with a shoe, lifted by his neck, and then dropped.
Victim Impact and Legal Proceedings
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors read powerful statements from Brooks' grieving family. His brother, Jared Ricks, expressed a hope that the "welcoming committee" would show the four defendants more grace in state prison than they showed his brother.
Brooks' son, Robert Brooks Jr., wrote that watching the video of his father’s fatal beating was like witnessing a horror movie. "I pray this case teaches others that they can’t treat incarcerated people like animals," he stated.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, the special prosecutor, revealed that the family members were not permitted to read their statements aloud due to objections from all four defence attorneys, after Fitzpatrick failed to file the necessary paperwork.
Broader Context and Other Cases
This case is not isolated. The first plea came in May 2025, when guard Christopher Walrath, who had resigned, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced in August to 15 years in prison.
Subsequently, a jury convicted David Kingsley on both murder and manslaughter counts last month, and he faces a potential life term. Another guard, Michael Fisher, is scheduled for trial in January.
Disturbingly, DA Fitzpatrick is also prosecuting guards in a separate but similar case involving the 1 March fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi at the Mid-State Correctional Facility, another lockup in Marcy. In that case, eight guards have already reached plea deals, while five others, including two charged with murder, are set for trial in March.
Both prisons are located approximately 180 miles (290 kilometres) northwest of New York City.
