The family of a Greece man who died after an incident involving correction officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County has announced they have filed a lawsuit in the case. Robert Brooks' family members addressed the media with their attorneys in Rochester on Wednesday.

An attorney for the family says they filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York on behalf of the estate of Robert Brooks. The lawsuit names 17 defendants who attorneys say were directly or indirectly responsible for Brooks' death. This includes the 14 Marcy employees previously linked to the incident, along with the acting superintendent of the facility, the commissioner of the Department of Corrections and an employee of a private staffing agency allegedly present for Brooks' beating.

"Mr. Brooks was paying his debt to society. He deserved to live," said attorney Elizabeth Mazur with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym. "He deserved the opportunity to finish his sentence and return to his family and his community."

Last month, the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James released body camera footage of the Dec. 9 incident, which shows multiple correction officers hitting Brooks, 43, while he was restrained at the prison. Brooks, who was serving a 12-year sentence for stabbing his girlfriend in 2016, died the next day at a hospital in Utica, according to the state attorney general's office.

A filing by the AG's office says an autopsy conducted in December showed Brooks suffered bruises to his face and a fractured nasal bone, among injuries to his neck and other extremities.

Robert Brooks (Courtesy: Family of Robert Brooks)

Attorney Steve Schwarz, of Faraci Lange in Rochester, says because New York state has sovereign immunity and cannot be sued in federal court for civil rights violations or allegations of wrongful death, they will soon be filing a separate lawsuit against the state of New York in the New York Court of Claims.

"Our goal as attorneys is simple, to achieve some measure of justice for the family of Robert Brooks. We view that goal as having two separate but equally important components," said Schwarz. "First, we will pursue all legal avenues available to obtain compensation for Robert's family for what Robert endured in the last hours of his life and what his children have lost as a result of his death. But of equal importance to [his son] Robert Jr., [his brother] Jared and the rest of his family, we will leave no stone unturned in ferreting out the entire story of how Robert wound up at Marcy and how those who perpetrated this atrocity and those who casually stood by and watched came to believe they would never be called to account for what they've done."

Schwarz says right now they do not know why Brooks was taken to Marcy Correctional. He also says the complaint filed in federal court Wednesday morning details numerous instances which display a pattern of what he says is similar conduct at Marcy Correctional that had been reported for years, but was never adequately addressed.

During Wednesday's news conference, Brooks' son Robert Brooks Jr. described how this loss has impacted his family.

"My family is going through an unimaginable amount of pain. No one should have to experience what we are experiencing — the murder of my father by the people who were supposed to keep him safe," said Brooks Jr. "But we are also feeling incredible support from our community here in Rochester and everyone who has reached out from all over the country. We want to say thank you to everyone who is standing up and saying what happened to my father should not have happened to anyone."

Brooks' death has sparked outrage among many, which led to a rally being held outside Marcy Correctional Facility on Tuesday. People came from as far as Connecticut to call for justice in the case.

Brooks' younger brother Jared Ricks said Robert still had rights even though he was incarcerated.

"My brother had done eight of the 12 years that he was sentenced to as seen fit in the eyes of the law, but the 17 individuals at Marcy Correctional Facility gave him a death sentence and that's just not fair," said Ricks. "People who are incarcerated are human beings, they have rights. They deserve to live without fear that something like this could happen to them."

"The important thing is we want change," Brooks' son Robert Brooks Jr. said. "I want the name Robert L. Brooks to be known forever and not just for his final moments. I do want them to be prosecuted. Let that be known, I do want them to be prosecuted. I also want change to happen." 

More than a dozen correctional facility staff members have been suspended without pay as the investigation into Brooks' death continues. An additional employee resigned before he could be suspended, officials say.

A number of state lawmakers and activists have called for the prison to close following the incident.

There is another potential lawsuit on the way as the family says they plan to file next week against New York state. That suit is expected to include the State Department of Corrections.

Leadership with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision say they are committed to preventing an incident like this from happening again. They said they have already implemented changes, including increasing the supervision of officers.