A handcuffed inmate whose fatal beating by correctional officers last year sparked outrage died by homicide, according to findings of an autopsy report a lawyer for the man's family shared Wednesday.
The report attributed Robert Brooks’ death on Dec. 10 to compression of the neck and multiple blunt force injuries, attorney Elizabeth Mazur told NBC News.
“The autopsy report confirms what was already clear,” the family’s defense team said in a statement. “Robert Brooks’s violent death was a homicide. We look forward to the prosecution of those responsible. In the meantime, we are pushing forward with our fight for justice for Mr. Brooks and his family.”
A homicide finding does not imply wrongdoing. It means the person died at the hands of another.
A spokesperson for the Onondaga County Health Department said it could not release the findings because the case remains under active investigation. The local prosecutor’s office also declined to comment, citing a pending investigation.
In a statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul cited the findings and said authorities should now move quickly to file criminal charges.
“Those responsible for Mr. Brooks’ death must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” she said. “This reprehensible act of violence demands the full force of our justice system — the family of Mr. Brooks deserves no further delays.”
In a statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul cited the findings and said authorities should now move quickly to file criminal charges.
“Those responsible for Mr. Brooks’ death must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” she said. “This reprehensible act of violence demands the full force of our justice system — the family of Mr. Brooks deserves no further delays.”
A spokesman for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The union previously described the officers' conduct, which was captured on video, as “reprehensible” and “not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day.”
Brooks, 43, was serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault when he was transferred to Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, roughly 240 miles north of New York City, on Dec. 9, New York Attorney General Letitia James told reporters after his death.
Officers involved in the confrontation had not activated their body cameras, so they did not capture audio and recorded only 30 minutes of video while the devices were in standby mode, James said. Her office released several videos from the four officers' cameras that captured the beating.
One video shows Brooks — whose hands are cuffed behind his back — being carried upside down into a medical exam room at the facility. It remains unclear what words Brooks exchanged with the officers, and while Brooks does not appear to physically retaliate, the videos present different angles, and at times it is unclear what is happening in the room.
Another video shows officers repeatedly striking Brooks while his hands are still restrained. At one point, one of the officers can be seen lifting Brooks by his neck and slamming him onto a bed in the room.
In December, Hochul ordered the state Department of Corrections to begin the process of firing 14 corrections officers, sergeants and a nurse at Marcy. Officials have publicly identified all 14, and they have been suspended without pay, except for one officer who had already resigned. The status of the remaining officers was not immediately clear Wednesday.
Daniel Martuscello, commissioner of the Corrections Department, said in December that his office had launched an investigation in an effort to bring “institutional change.”
“There is no excuse and no rationalization for a vulgar, inhumane act that senselessly took a life," he said. "This type of behavior cannot be normalized, and I will not allow it to be within DOCCS.”
In a civil complaint filed in federal district court in New York last month, Brooks' estate accused 17 people of excessive force and made other allegations in connection with his death. The suit does not specify damages. No lawyers are listed for the defendants, and they have not responded to the suit.
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