A correctional officer on Monday pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter in connection with the 2024 fatal beating of New York inmate Robert Brooks.
Christopher Walrath appeared before Judge Robert L. Bauer in Oneida County Court to enter his plea. Walrath, 36, is one of six correctional officers charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in connection with beating Brooks in a medical exam room in Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9.
Walrath answered "yes" to a series of questions asked by Bauer and the prosecutor, including if he and the co-defendants assaulted Brooks and if he put the inmate "in a chokehold against departmental policy and procedure." Walrath also admitted to not reporting the use of force against Brooks and that the repeated assaults against Brooks ultimately caused his death.
Walrath is out on bond, under the condition that he commits no new offenses and he appears in court when asked. He will be sentenced on Aug. 4.
Late last year, body camera footage released by the New York attorney general’s office showed the officers punching and kicking Brooks while he was handcuffed to an infirmary bed at Marcy Correctional Facility.
In one video, Brooks is seen sitting up as an officer presses his foot down on him, and two officers punch him. At another point, he is forcefully yanked from the bed by his shirt collar and held up above the ground, his face visibly bloodied.
The footage drew outrage from political leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, who called the incident a "brutal attack" and took action to fire the 14 people involved, including correctional officers, sergeants and a prison nurse. In February, she announced the charges against six correctional officers involved in the beating, including Walrath, Anthony Farina, Mathew Galliher, David Kinglsey and Michael Mashaw. One name was redacted.
"Robert Brooks should be alive today," Hochul said in a statement issued at the time.
The five identified men pleaded not guilty to the murder and manslaughter charges in court in February before Walrath's Monday plea.
Walrath did not enter a plea to the second-degree murder charge. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
