All but one charge now dismissed in high-profile Santa Rita jail death

DUBLIN, Calif. - All but one of the charges against Alameda County sheriff's deputies involved in a high-profile, in-custody death at Santa Rita Jail have now been dismissed, nearly closing a chapter on a case where 11 defendants were originally criminally charged. 

Three deputies now mostly clear

What we know:

On Friday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Clifford Blakely dismissed the criminal cases against deputies Robinderpal Singh Hayer, Thomas Mowrer, and Donall Rowe, who were charged with dependent elder abuse of Maurice Monk, an Oakland man with mental illness who lay dying for several days in 2021 as food trays piled up in his cell until someone noticed he was actually dead. 

Hayer was also indicted for falsification of an official document, and that charge is the only one that is still pending, according to one of the defense attorneys, Alison Berry Wilkinson, who is representing Mowrer. 

Berry Wilkinson said that the dependent care charges were dismissed because the judge ruled that Deputy District Attorney Mark Bennett did not provide the grand jury with the proper instructions regarding the essential elements of the case; that Monk did not legally fall under a "dependent" just because he was in jail, as the defense argued in a motion to the judge. 

DA is disappointed

What they're saying:

In a statement, DA Ursula Jones Dixon acknowledged the dismissal of the charges in a statement, but did not specify why, stating only that she was disappointed in the court's decision, but respects the rule of law. 

Monk's sister was also disappointed. 

"I feel sad that nobody is still charged," Monk's sister, Elvira Monk, told KTVU on Monday. "People got away with this. But I guess they have to live with that." 

Her brother was originally arrested for verbally threatening an AC Transit driver when he refused to wear a mask on a bus during the pandemic, and then missed a court date. 

The remaining three deputies have been on leave since they were originally charged in 2024. At least one of them, Mowrer, no longer works for the sheriff's department. 

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office did not immediately have a response about when and if these deputies will return to work.

One deputy, one charge left

The most recent dismissal of charges means that Hayer is the only one facing one falsification charge in the wake of Monk's death, first reported by KTVU with the help of exclusive body camera video showing that deputies and Wellpath medical staff slipped food trays and pills through the slat in Monk's door, without ever opening it to see if he was actually eating the food or taking the medication.

Finally, when deputies opened the door to Monk's cell on Nov. 15, 2021, they saw that he was dead; urine pooling near his body on the floor and stacks of food trays piled up near the door. 

History of case

The backstory:

In 2024, then-District Attorney Pamela Price charged 11 deputies and medical staff with Monk's death.

But in August 2025, Jones Dixon, who was elected after Price was recalled, dropped eight of the defendants, which included six sheriff's deputies and two healthcare providers, saying there was insufficient evidence, and re-charged three with a grand jury indictment. 

In her statement last week, Jones Dixon added that when she brought the case to the grand jury, prosecutors recognized they were bringing a "novel legal theory" of criminal culpability and the lack of legal precedent.

Though there is just one criminal charge pending in this case, Monk's children won a $7 million settlement from Alameda County and another $2.5 million from the healthcare company, Wellpath, that provides medical care to Santa Rita Jail.