New York Jury Convicts Former Guard for Robert Brooks’ Taped Killing
On October 20, 2025, a jury convicted a former prison guard of second-degree murder in the 2024 killing of Robert Brooks, a 43-year-old prisoner at the Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York. David Kingsley, the convicted guard, went to trial with two other guards, Mathew Galliher and Nicholas Kieffer, both of whom were acquitted on similar charges (a fourth guard is scheduled to go to trial in January 2026). Kingsley, who will be locked up in the same facility he once patrolled and now faces up to 25 years in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15 of this year.
Brooks’ brutal murder was captured on body cameras that the guards forgot to turn off. As PLN reported, 10 guards in total were charged in February 2025 in connection to Brooks’ fatal beating; the charges provoked a series of wildcat strikes by guards across New York. These walkouts, in turn, led state Governor Kathy Hochul (D) to fire hundreds of guards that took part and deploy the National Guard to make up staffing shortfalls. (The New York prison system, like in many other states, remains understaffed). [See: PLN, Feb. 2025, p.59; Mar. 2025, p.61; Apr. 2025, p.56; May 2025, p.43; and Aug. 2025, p.40].
Six of the guards agreed to plead guilty to charges related to Brooks’ killing, including manslaughter, earlier this year. In May, Christopher Walrath, the first guard to plead guilty, admitted to choking, punching, and kicking Brooks and received a 15 year prison sentence. Several weeks later, guard Nicholas Gentle admitted to tampering with evidence when he mopped up Brooks’ blood. [See: PLN, June 2025, p. 59]. On September 22, the remaining four guards pleaded guilty: Nicholas Anzalone and Anthony Farina agreed to a 22 year sentence for first-degree manslaughter, while Michael Mashaw and David Walters admitted to second-degree manslaughter charges for failing to intervene in Brooks’ beating (Mashaw agreed to a sentence of up to nine years and Walters of up to seven).
Along with the killing of 22-year-old detainee Messiah Nantwi by New York prison guards (which also occurred in 2024), Brooks’ murder spurred advocates to push for the Prison Reform Omnibus Bill, an act that would, among other measures, mandate body camera use in all prisoner interactions. The bill was passed by the state legislature in June, but still needs Gov. Hochul’s signature to become law. As Brooks’ family said in a statement after the verdict, “the jury made the right decision in finding David Kingsley guilty of murder. While it was hard to see Matthew Galliher and Nicholas Kieffer be given a pass, it highlights the need for systemic change.”
Sources: THE CITY, The New York Times
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