Three Santa Clara County Main Jail correctional officers were charged Sept. 8 with the murder of inmate Michael Tyree.
The guards—identified as Matthew Farris, 27, Jereh Lubrin, 28, and Rafael Rodriguez, 27—are accused of beating inmate Tyree late last month so much that they caused massive and eventually fatal internal injuries, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.
“These men violated the law, human dignity, and the job that they were sworn to do,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a press release. “They may have thought that their violence, enacted late at night in the obscurity of a jail cell and against a helpless and mentally ill inmate, was invisible. Today we see it for all of its brutality. Mr. Tyree was not invisible. His death was not invisible. We will see that there is justice.”
The guards are also accused of felony assault under the color of authority for beating another inmate minutes before their alleged fatal assault on Tyree.
In its complaint against the officers, the DA’s office claims at around 10:50 p.m. on Aug. 26, the three guards entered the cell of another inmate in the same “pod” as Tyree and physically assaulted him.
According to the DA’s office, inmates reportedly heard the blows and Tyree screaming, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Stop.”
According to the press release, a short time after allegedly assaulting the first inmate, the officers entered the cell of Tyree.
The DA’s office alleges after the closed-door beating—which left Tyree with numerous injuries all over his body—inmates heard Tyree crying. Then they heard his body hit the floor.
Later, according to the DA’s office, two correctional officers entered Tyree’s cell just after midnight to find Mr. Tyree dead on the floor, covered in his own waste. He was pronounced dead at 12:35 a.m. The County Medical Examiner estimated that his internal injuries to his liver and spleen were so severe that he died within minutes of the trauma.
If convicted of the charges, the guards could face life in prison.
“I appreciate the District Attorney’s decision to file murder charges against the three correctional deputies arrested for the murder of Michael Tyree,” Sheriff Laurie Smith said. “While no one can bring Michael back to his family, we can ensure that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice as swiftly as possible. The reprehensible actions of those accused of this cowardly act are not indicative of the values we expect from our correctional deputies. As the Sheriff, I will redouble my department’s efforts to root out any correctional staff that does not share and exhibit the high standards the public rightfully expects from us.”
Tyree was in custody related to his probation for a misdemeanor drug possession that was being monitored in Santa Clara County Superior Court’s mental health court, according to the DA’s release.
He was also charged with petty theft.
The sheriff’s office announced Sept. 4 that it will request funding for a modernized camera system in the Main Jail and Elmwood Jail facilities. The announcement was in response to the death of Tyree.
“Expanding the number of cameras at each of our custodial facilities will improve the safety of inmates, visitors and correctional staff assigned to those facilities,” Sheriff Smith stated. “This is a common sense improvement designed to increase our staff’s ability to monitor our jails and ensure stricter accountability for all personnel assigned to our facilities.”
On Sept. 3, following the arrest of the correctional deputies on suspicion of the murder of Tyree, Smith and her top command staff met with community leaders from several organizations to provide them with a detailed briefing on the arrests and to listen to concerns and ideas as to how the sheriff’s department can continue to work collaboratively to address those concerns, according to sheriff’s Sgt. James Jensen.
“We had a great discussion with the sheriff at yesterday’s community meeting. We look forward to continuing the conversation with the sheriff and working within the facilities,” said Reverend Jeff Moore, President San Jose-Silicon Valley NAACP.
In attendance at the meeting with community leaders were representatives from the NAACP, Silicon Valley Debug, Jail Observer Program, Correctional institutions Chaplaincy, among others.
Chaplin Evelyn Vigil from Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy said, “I am grateful for the sheriff’s swift and decisive action in this case and look forward to continuing our cooperative efforts to provide high-quality care to inmates and staff,” said Vigil.
In addition to the proposal to expand and modernize the jail’s camera system, the sheriff’s office has proactively sought input from the FBI on its operations and will continue to review and improve its current policies, procedures and protocols for safely managing those in custody that must cope with mental illness.
