1st court appearance for 11 charged with Santa Rita Jail death of Oakland man
When Maurice Monk of Oakland was found dead in his Santa Rita Jail cell, there were uneaten food trays and pills in his cell.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Nine deputies and two medical staff charged with the Santa Rita Jail death of an Oakland man are expected to make their first court appearance on Monday following the revelation that KTVU exposed last year that no one had performed a meaningful check on him for several days, despite the fact that he refused any food and lay dying in his cell until his body was discovered.
Outgoing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price charged the 11 deputies and medical staff last week with felony counts of criminal dependent adult abuse and neglect – in this case, the alleged neglect of Maurice Monk whose body was discovered on Nov. 15, 2021.
The defendants are: Deputies Donall Chauncy Rowe, Thomas Mowrer, Ross Burruel, Robinderpal Singh Hayer, Andre Gaston, Troy Hershel White, Syear Osmani, Mateusz Laszuk and Christopher Haendel as well as Wellpath nurse David Everett Donoho and Alameda County Forensic Behavioral Health Dr. Neal Edwards.
Three of the 11 were also charged with falsifying documents.
Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez put the seven active sworn deputies on leave; two deputies no longer work for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. Through a spokesman, Sanchez said she admits mistakes were made with Monk's situation, but she does not believe his death warrants criminal charges.
(From L-R) Nia' Mor , Tiffany and Elvira Monk the daughter and sisters of Maurice Monk, who languished for days at Santa Rita Jail.
KTVU first reported the conditions of Monk's death after obtaining exclusive body camera video inside the jail that shows no one physically checked on the 45-year-old man, who is seen lying half naked on his bunk, for at least three days, possibly four.
And when deputies finally found Monk's body, stacks of uneaten food trays and pills lay scattered about the floor near an oblong puddle of urine by the foot of his bed.
Last year, Monk's daughter and son won $7 million – an unprecedented amount from the sheriff's office.
The timing of the charges came one week after Price was ousted from her post as part of a historic effort to recall her.
It's unknown at this point if her successor will forge ahead with the case.