UPDATED: MARCY GUARD WHO PLEADED GUILTY TO KILLING ROBERT BROOKS LOSES LONG-SHOT BID TO VACATE PLEA
DAVID WALTERS COPPED TO MANSLAUGHTER, AGREED TO 2 1/3-TO-7 YEAR SENTENCE FOR FAILING TO STOP OTHER GUARDS FROM KILLING ROBERT BROOKS
David Walters at his arraignment for failing to stop the killing of Robert Brooks. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
MALONE, NEW YORK Nov. 18, 2025 Exclusive Updated: Nov. 19, 12:58pm
One of the state prison guards who pleaded guilty in connection with the murder of Robert Brooks asked a judge to vacate that plea of guilty Wednesday morning.
David Walters admitted guilt to second degree manslaughter back in September for failing to stop Brooks' killing. He asked Oneida County judge Robert Bauer to set aside that plea and set a trial date. Walters agreed to a 2 1/3-to-7 year sentence.
Walters' move comes after one officer, David Kinglsey, was found guilty of murder and two officers, Mathew Galliher and Nicholas Kieffer, were acquitted after a jury trial that ended Oct. 17.
Brooks was murdered by a beat-up squad of all-white guards while Walters and nurses watched at the Marcy Correctional Facility outside Utica on Dec. 9, 2024. His killing exposed an ongoing crisis in New York’s prison system, fueled in part by an out-of-control illegal drug trade and a severe shortage of guards.
Michael Mashaw, a former sergeant, also pleaded guilty the same day Walters did. He was promised a 3-to-9 year sentence. Former guards Anthony Farina and Nicholas Anzalone pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter on the same day. They agreed to 22-year sentences. As of now, they have not ask Judge Bauer to vacate their guilty pleas.
Walters’ lawyer, Nick Passalaqua, did not immediately respond to a request comment. Neither did Special Prosecutor Onondaga County District Attorney William F. Fitzpatrick.
Robert Brooks jr., son of the murdered man, said Walters’ gambit was “disturbing and disrespectful.”
Walters motion to vacate his guilty plea stood little chance of being granted, but it was possible. Walters is just another defendent experiencing “buyer’s remorse” over his guilty plea—in this case no doubt sharpened by the acquittal of two of his colleagues at the October trial.
Motions like Walters’ are typically denied. And that’s exactly what Justice Bauer ruled from the bench immediately after oral argument on Wednesday. Walters,37, will be sentenced Friday.
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