SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — Former Santa Clara County jail guards Rafael Rodriguez, Jereh Lubrin and Matthew Farris plead guilty to a single voluntary manslaughter charge after beating mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree to death in 2015. It’s considered a resolution nine years in the making.
Rodriguez, Lubrin and Farris appeared in front of a judge in court Tuesday, where they openly admitted their involvement in the deadly beating of Tyree in his jail cell.
“They plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, to beating and killing Michael Tyree with conscious disregard for his life – conscious disregard for human life,” Santa Clara Co. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, “Today was a victory for the vulnerable and the voiceless.”
The men agreed to a plea deal to serve a maximum sentence of 11 years for their involvement in the fatal beating.
RELATED: Santa Clara County jail inmate describes night Michael Tyree died
This comes after a state appellate court overturned their murder convictions in 2022 because it could not be fully proven which defendant actually killed Tyree.
Instead of retrying the case, Rosen’s office accepted the deal with a major condition.
“It was important for us to have them admit in court that they beat Michael Tyree to death or aided and abetted the beating of him to death and that they did that conscious disregard for Michael Tyree’s life and for human life, because if they’re accepting responsibility for what they did,” Rosen said, “Then we want them to accept responsibility.”
Tyree’s family attorney Paula Canny says this still doesn’t take away the pain of Tyree’s death.
RELATED: Corrections officer sees increase in assaults after conviction in jail beating case
Santa Clara County has since adopted reforms to make sure mentally ill inmates are better taken care of so something like this never happens again.
But Canny says more still needs to be done to care for the mentally ill.
“Mental illness is not a criminal justice problem, it is a public health problem,” Canny said, “And until we reconcile that and recognize it as such we’re going to continue to have tragedies like this.”
The three former guards will be in court next on Oct. 22 to determine how much of their remaining sentence they will serve. They are currently on house arrest with ankle monitors.
Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.