3 Calif. jail guards accused of killing inmate

Three Silicon Valley jail guards were arrested Thursday and accused of killing a homeless, mentally ill inmate last week during a routine clothing search.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office has recommended that the district attorney file murder charges against correctional officers Rafael Rodriguez, 37, Jereh Lubrin, 28, and Matthew Farris, 27, who are being held without bail in another jail, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The three, who are not sworn deputies and had worked at the jail for less than three years, are due in court Tuesday.​

They are accused of fatally beating 31-year-old Michael James Pipkin Tyree, who died Aug. 26 and was found the next morning while in protective custody at the main jail in San Jose. Having pleaded no contest to petty theft in a special mental-health court Aug. 23, he was waiting to be sent to a mental-health facility after completing a five-day sentence.

The medical examiner determined Tyree died of multiple blunt-force injuries, "visceral lacerations" and internal bleeding.

The decision to recommend murder charges has "no known precedent" in the 165-year history of the sheriff's office, the Mercury News stated.

"Our client was slated to be released to a mental health bed but no bed was available, thus the reason he was still in jail,'' Santa Clara County Public Defender Molly O'Neal said Thursday. "This tragedy underscores the need for a greater number of mental health beds so that clients with acute mental health needs do not sit in custodial facilities which are not therapeutic when they have been ordered released."

At an afternoon news conference, an emotional Sheriff Laurie Smith called Tyree's death a "violent and cowardly act" and apologized to his family. She referred to the officers as "accused murderers."

"The disappointment and disgust I feel cannot be overstated," she said. "It pains me that those sworn to protect lose their moral compass."

Paula Canny, an attorney representing Tyree's family, applauded Smith for her quick response, which she called "extraordinary."

"This could have been dragged out," she told the Associated Press.

Tyree's family is "saddened beyond words at the loss of their brother," Canny told the Mercury News. "Poor Michael has struggled with major mental illness. He was a loving and compassionate guy who sadly suffered."