Recently Revealed Murder in Alameda County Jail

by Micky Duxbury

Yuri Brand had a lengthy history with Alameda County Sheriff’s Office as he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had several encounters with the criminal justice system often related to his serious mental illness.

After breaking into a home in Piedmont where he stayed and ate food for several days, he was detained in Alameda County Jail on September 8, 2023. Five days later, Bryson Levy was placed in Brand’s cell. Levy also had history of mental illness and a criminal history that included violence and sexual assault. A mere 45 minutes later, Levy suffocated Yuri Brand to death with a mattress.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has had more legal suits than any other in northern California.

The 2021-2022 Grand Jury report documented scores of conditions in the jail that were inadequate, and the federal Babu class action settlement pointed to inadequacy in mental health treatment, suicide prevention, the use of safety cells, overuse of isolation, and inadequate discharge planning for people with mental health disabilities.

The Board of Supervisors ratified the federal Babu settlement which was intended to improve the treatment of mentally ill persons in Alameda County Jail, especially increased psychiatric assessment of every inmate and assignment to the appropriate housing unit.

Names of some of the people who have died at Santa Rita Jail over the past ten years. Credit: Steve Thomasberger

At the Sept. 17^th meeting of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the Stop Deaths and Harm group presented a letter signed by 40+ faith leaders and individuals. The group is an offshoot of the Interfaith Coalition for Justice in our Jail founded in 2019. Members of the Stop Deaths and Harm group were appalled to read about the murder of Yuri Brand. News reports indicate that the Sheriff’s Office placed Mr. Brand in the general population even though he had a lengthy psychiatric history.

Given the legally mandated interventions and requirements by state and federal agencies, the group raised the following questions with the Board of Supervisors: “How could someone with a history of violence and sexual assault have been placed in a cell with a seriously mentally ill detainee? Why wasn’t there increased monitoring of this cell as was mandated by the Babu settlement?”

The Stop Deaths and Harm group called on Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to respond to these questions in a public meeting.

The group contends that even though legal requirements were in place that should have prevented this death, the system failed Yuri Brand. “The Board of Supervisors needs to get involved. Lawsuits by aggrieved family members are not enough. The Board of Supervisors serves as our representatives and must take responsibility in our names for totally avoidable deaths in our county jail.”

The Board of Supervisors passed a version of Sheriff Oversight on Sept 17^th, but it is not yet clear if it will have any genuine power to hold the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office accountable. The Board amended the proposal so that, apparently, no incidents involving Sheriff’s personnel could be investigated. Final language will come back to the Board after “meet-and-confer” negotiations with law enforcement unions. That process is more likely to result in weaker rather than stronger language.