Autopsy rules beating death of shackled New York inmate homicide

The videos also appear to show a prison officer placing something in Mr Brooks’s mouth before striking him, as well as a separate officer hitting him in the stomach with a shoe.

At one point, an officer lifts Mr Brooks by the neck before forcefully putting him on the examination table.

Preliminary examinations determined the cause of death was “asphyxia due to compression of the neck”.

The Onondaga County Medical Examiner ruled Mr Brooks’s death was a homicide, the New York governor said in a statement.

The incident drew protesters outside the district attorney’s office in Syracuse this week. They demanded murder charges against the correction officers.

Hochul ordered the firing of the 13 officers and a prison nurse who were involved in the assault following an internal review after the incident.

“Those responsible for Mr Brooks’ death must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law, and I recognize the need to build an airtight prosecution to ensure those individuals are brought to justice,” Hochul said in a Wednesday statement.

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James also opened an investigation into Mr Brooks’s death.