Robert L. Brooks
Robert L. Brooks, 43, was the father of Robert L. Brooks Jr. and the brother of Jared Ricks, who wrote statements read at a sentencing hearing after his death. On December 9, 2024, he was beaten by correctional officers in the infirmary at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, New York, and he died hours later at a hospital in Utica. Bodycam video captured the beating, and authorities said at least ten officers took part. According to the family's lawyer, Elizabeth Mazur, the Onondaga County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, citing compression of the neck and multiple blunt-impact injuries. Four officers were sentenced for manslaughter in Oneida County Court on November 21, 2025, and the family has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit; his son said he hoped the case would spark change in the prison system.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed; neglect alleged). Prosecutors and the medical examiner say correctional officers beat Robert Brooks in the Marcy infirmary, and the family's federal wrongful death lawsuit says the beating and a failure to protect him caused his death; the Onondaga County Medical Examiner's Office ruled it a homicide, and his family's lawyer, Elizabeth Mazur, says the officers' conduct killed him.
Reported by: Onondaga County Medical Examiner's Office (medical examiner or coroner); special prosecutor William Fitzpatrick, Onondaga County District Attorney (outside investigators); Oneida County Court (court); Authorities (the agency that held him); family lawyer Elizabeth Mazur and his family's lawsuit (family or their lawyers); New York State Office of the Attorney General, Office of Special Investigation (outside investigators).
Lawsuit: His family filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit over his death, and no settlement or award amount has been reported.
News reports (5)
- New York Attorney General, Office of Special Investigation data tables
- 10th N.Y. CO charged in death of inmate Robert Brooks
- Four guards plead guilty in brutal beating death of Black inmate at upstate New York prison
- 'Today we get justice': Four Marcy COs sentenced to prison in death of inmate Robert Brooks
- Citing safety concerns, former Marcy Sgt. Trombly sentenced to county jail in Brooks beating case