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New York Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Beating Death of Prisoner Robert Brooks

HeadlineMay 06, 2025

In Utica, New York, a corrections officer has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the fatal beating of 43-year-old Robert Brooks, who was incarcerated at the Marcy Correctional Facility. Body-camera footage of the December killing shows the group of guards repeatedly punching and kicking Brooks in the face, chest and groin. Four of the officers involved were wearing body cameras but did not activate them. Brooks was Black; all of the officers who took turns beating him appear to be white. Six guards were charged with murder. Christopher Walrath is the first to take a plea deal. He’ll be sentenced in August.

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