Recalled Alameda Co. DA charges 11 Santa Rita Jail employees in death of Maurice Monk
Nine Alameda County sheriff's deputies and a pair of civilian Santa Rita Jail employees are facing charges related to the 2021 death of inmate Maurice Monk.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price's office filed the charges late Friday accusing all the defendants of felony dependent adult abuse.
Additionally, three of the deputies—Robinderpal Singh Hayer, Troy Hershel White and Syear Osmani—are each also facing a single charge of falsification of an official document by an officer, according to court records.
In addition to Hayer, White and Osmani, the other deputies charged by Price include Donall Rowe, Thomas Mowrer, Ross Burruel, Andre Gaston, Mateusz Laszuk and Christopher Haendel.
Also charged were Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services' Dr. Neal Edwards and David Everett Donoho, an employee with Wellpath, the jail's medical provider.
"We're happy to hear that the people who were involved in this tragic but preventable loss of life are going to be held accountable," said attorney Adante Pointer, who is representing Monk's family in a civic case against Wellpath.
"It's important to the family that the people we trust as a community to take care of our loved ones when they're in custody do their job," Pointer said.
Monk, 45, who had mental health and other health care needs, was found in his cell on Nov. 5, 2021, after apparently being dead for at least 72 hours.
He was in jail after an arrest about a month earlier on suspicion of disorderly conduct for allegedly refusing to get off an Alameda-Contra Costa Transit bus and failing to appear on a misdemeanor warrant for another alleged altercation on a bus, according to prosecutors.
Monk's family lawyers said multiple jail guards and medical staff from Wellpath saw him lying face-down in a puddle of bodily fluids for days but failed to provide aid.
His family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Alameda County for $7 million.
On Monday, Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez criticized Price, who filed the charges just days after facing a recall election. Earlier this week, the Associated Press confirmed that the recall had enough votes to remove Price from office.
"I am deeply disappointed by District Attorney Price's decision to pursue charges, as I do not believe they are justified," Sanchez said. "I will continue to support our staff throughout this challenging process."
The president of the Deputy Sheriffs' Association of Alameda County, Sgt. Shaughn Park, also criticized Price, said his organization is standing behind the deputies and expressed hope that they'll receive due process.
"This is an unprecedented thing to charge all these deputies for this incident," Park said. "The D.A. has had contempt for law enforcement her whole time in office and even campaigned on that and it feels like an abuse of power after she's been recalled."
Steven Clark, a former prosecutor who is now a defense attorney, said, regardless of the recall election, Price is still in office now and it's her call to make.
"Many people will argue that this is Pamela Price's swan song to say that we are going after police. I came into this administration and now I'm leaving in the same fashion," Clark said.
Spokespeople for Price's office and Wellpath didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
"The family has endured a lot and had to fight every step of the way to get the truth because these deputies and jail employees, not only did they contribute to his loss of life, but they also fabricated reports and did things to cover it up," Pointer said.
The jail itself has a troubled history. The California justice department says it has one of the highest rates of in-custody deaths in the state, and the US Department of Justice found the jail is the largest mental health provider in the county, but said the services are inadequate and violate the civil rights of inmates.
Katie Nielsen contributed to this report.