Guards in inmate’s death get long terms

Three former Santa Clara County correctional deputies convicted in the 2015 fatal jail-cell beating of a mentally ill inmate each was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison by a judge Friday.

In June, a jury found Jereh Lubrin, 30, Matthew Farris, 28, and Rafael Rodriguez, 28, guilty of killing 31-year-old Michael Tyree, who was found dead in his cell, covered in vomit and feces.

“We asked the court to give the maximum sentence because when these so-called guards broke Michael Tyree’s body that night two years ago, they also broke the public’s trust,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.

During the trial, several inmates testified to hearing the guards beating Tyree and another inmate hours before his body was discovered.

Tyree was in jail on misde-

meanor drug and theft charges and was housed on a floor for inmates with mental illness or other special needs. According to court documents, the violent encounter with the guards began when Tyree refused his medication.

In a statement to the court at the Friday sentencing, Shannon Tyree described her brother as a sweet and sensitive individual whose mental illness slowly took over parts of his life.

He believed doctors, hospitals and even his family were part of plots by the CIA and FBI that would endanger him, Shannon Tyree said, which prevented him from receiving the help he needed.

Just before their father died, Shannon Tyree said she made a promise to take care of Michael. But his illness made it impossible to communicate, she said, since Michael believed she was part of a plot to harm him.

“I will never have a chance ... to tell him I’m so sorry that I didn’t understand that he was so afraid,” Shannon Tyree said. “I’m accountable for failing Michael. These three men walked into his cell and beat him to death. And they are accountable for that.”

Lubrin was called by a nurse when Tyree pocketed his pills instead of ingesting them, but he eventually took the medication without incident. During routine checks later that night, the three jailers allegedly beat another inmate, Juan Villa, before entering Tyree’s cell.

Witnesses testified to hearing Tyree screaming for help as the three guards entered his cell and beat him. The county medical examiner concluded that he died of internal bleeding from severe damage to his liver and spleen.

The jury convicted the three guards of seconddegree murder in the killing of Tyree, but did not reach a verdict on the attacks on Villa.