Utica, N.Y. — A Central New York corrections officer was sentenced in Utica to prison Monday, the first guard who admitted beating an inmate who died last year.

Christopher Walrath, 36, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter.

Walrath was one of 10 corrections officers who were charged in connection with the death of Robert L. Brooks.

Brooks, 43, of Rochester, was repeatedly punched and kicked in the groin, abdomen and face on Dec. 9 in the infirmary of Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County. He died hours later at a local hospital.

At Walrath’s sentencing Monday, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said his office sought for months to find out why the officers attacked Brooks.

“I can answer that question as to what Robert Brooks did to provoke his death—absolutely nothing,” Fitzpatrick said. “This was a simple welcome to Marcy.”

Brooks’ son and namesake addressed Walrath at the sentencing Monday. He told him that while he would never forgive Walrath or the other officers for what they did to his father, he respected Walrath for admitting his role in the brutal beating.

“Mr. Walrath, you are no longer acting within the system,” Robert Brooks Jr. said in court. “Now your life is at the mercy of it, and I pray for your family, who is going to spend the next 15 years worrying about you, just like all New Yorkers with incarcerated loved ones must do.”

Brooks Sr. was set to be released from prison on July 23, 2026, his son said. His family was eagerly awaiting his homecoming but were robbed of that joy, Brooks Jr. said.

Brooks Jr. asked Walrath if it ever occurred to him and his fellow officers that his father was a human who had a family who loved him. He asked Walrath to imagine having to watch someone treat his own father the way Brooks was treated and being powerless to stop it.

“I will never get these images out of my head.” Brooks Jr. said. “They will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life. I am not okay and I never will be.”

Fitzpatrick said Monday Brooks suffered massive brain trauma from multiple beatings and choked on his own blood.

Fitzpatrick said Walrath lied to hospital personnel and told them Brooks had fallen and hit his head. Walrath looked confused and upset as Fitzpatrick levied the accusation.

After the beating, officers fabricated a story in an attempt to cover up their actions, Fitzpatrick said. During the investigation, he asked a cooperating witness when and where the group met to agree on a story.

“He looked at me with a puzzled look on his face and said; ‘agree? no we didn’t need to agree. Thats just what we do,’” Fitzpatrick said.

The attack in the infirmary was recorded on video by body cameras worn by four of the prison guards.

None of the officers had turned on their cameras. Thirty minutes of video was recorded by a “fail-safe” video recall function without audio.

Fitzpatrick said Walrath left his assigned post to participate in the beating. He put Brooks in a chokehold and later struck him in the groin, Fitzpatrick said.

Brooks’ death was ruled a homicide by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner‘s Office. His cause of death was “compression of the neck and multiple blunt-impact injuries,” according to the autopsy report.

Walrath was indicted on a second-degree murder charge that was dropped as part of his plea agreement.

Fitzpatrick extended plea deals in late March to each of the guards. He is the second of the 10 indicted guards to plead guilty in the case.

Nicholas Gentile pleaded guilty to attempted tampering with physical evidence on May 14 and was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.

Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered 18 state employees involved in the beating to be fired. Several of the officers are defendants in other lawsuits alleging abuse of inmates. One lawsuit asserts the Marcy facility has a “beat-up squad.”

The Brooks family has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court, alleging the state oversees a system that allows inmates to be brutalized.

Brooks was sentenced in 2017 to 12 years in prison on a first-degree assault charge. He was arrested after stabbing his girlfriend multiple times. He had been scheduled for a parole hearing next year.

Brooks was moved to the Marcy prison the day of his fatal beating from the Mohawk Correctional Facility, records show. He was transferred for his “safety” after altercations with other inmates, a state prison system investigator testified.

Marcy, a medium security facility in Oneida County, has been cited by the Correctional Association of New York for issues in the past.

The Marcy prison is across the street from Mid-State Correctional Facility, where 10 guards have been indicted for fatally beating inmate Messiah Nantwi..

Exterior sign for the proposed Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center on Route 30 adjacent to the Northville Bridge in Northville, Monday.

Preliminary work is underway from Phinney Construction Group at the proposed site of the Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center on Route 30 adjacent to the Northville Bridge in Northville, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025.

Preliminary work is underway from Phinney Construction Group at the proposed site of the Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center on Route 30 adjacent to the Northville Bridge in Northville,........

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