A criminal grand jury has indicted three current and former Alameda County sheriff’s deputies in the 2021 in-custody death of Maurice Monk at Santa Rita Jail, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said.
The grand jury returned indictments against Robinderpal Singh Hayer, Thomas Mowrer, and Donall Rowe, who were arraigned on charges of dependent elder abuse, prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday last week. Hayer was also indicted on an additional felony count of falsification of an official document.
All three defendants remain out of custody after posting bail set by the court.
Monk, 45, died in his cell at Santa Rita Jail in November 2021 and was later found in a pool of bodily fluids after being dead for about three days, according to court filings and civil lawsuits.
District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said earlier this year her office would continue pursuing charges after a review of cases originally filed by her predecessor, Pamela Price.
Dickson had dropped charges against most of the guards and staff originally accused in Monk’s death, saying prosecutors could not establish criminal liability for all defendants.
Civil lawsuits filed by Monk’s family allege guards ignored his deteriorating condition as meals piled up uneaten outside his cell and that nurses employed by Wellpath, the private company providing medical care at the jail, tossed medications into the cell without intervening. Monk was being treated for diabetes and schizophrenia, according to family attorneys.
Monk was in jail for about a month after being arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct related to incidents on public buses and failing to appear on a misdemeanor warrant, prosecutors said.
Alameda County already reached a settlement related to Monk’s death. In 2023, the county agreed to a $7 million settlement with Monk’s family, and also required the Sheriff’s Office to improve inmate observation practices. In June, Wellpath settled a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the family for $2.5 million.
Eight of the original criminal defendants, including several sheriff’s deputies, a county behavioral health doctor and a Wellpath nurse, are no longer facing charges, according to prosecutors.