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NY corrections officers charged with murder in prison death of Messiah Nantwi
By
Jimmy Vielkind
Published Apr 16, 2025
Modified Apr 16, 2025
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Jimmy Vielkind
Published Apr 16, 2025
Modified Apr 16, 2025
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Two New York state corrections officers were charged Wednesday with the murder of Messiah Nantwi, an incarcerated man who authorities say guards beat to death during the recent unauthorized prison strike.
A grand jury handed up an 11-count indictment charging 10 corrections officers in connection with Nantwi’s death. Two officers were accused of second-degree murder, while others were charged with manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy and tampering with evidence.
Nantwi, 22, died on March 1 at the Midstate Correctional Facility near Utica. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick was named special prosecutor and brought the indictment that was unsealed Wednesday.
The second-degree murder charge accuses two officers of “kicking him and stomping on his head for no legitimate law enforcement purpose, and for further assaulting him and injuring him on the stairs exiting his building.” The prosecutors allege that the guards showed no urgency in getting medical help for Nantwi and “demonstrated depraved indifference” to his life.
Defendants Jonah Levi and Caleb Blair pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges. Other defendants are being arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Oneida County.
Nantwi was one of at least seven incarcerated people who died during the three-week wildcat strike, which placed facilities around the state on lockdown and prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to send the National Guard into prisons.
The walkout started on Feb. 17, days before 10 other prison employees were charged in connection with the Dec. 10 beating death of Robert Brooks, a prisoner at the Marcy Correctional Facility. Graphic video of Brooks’ death spurred additional calls to increase oversight of the prison system.
Advocates for incarcerated people said corrections officers were using the walkout to shift attention away from Brooks’ death. Striking officers said they didn’t feel safe working in prisons and pushed for the repeal of the 2021 HALT law, which limits the use of solitary confinement.
The Hochul administration partly suspended HALT in an attempt to get officers to return to work. When the strike officially ended last month, the state agreed to convene a commission to re-examine the law.
Hochul on Tuesday said she had fired the corrections officers who were charged and called their behavior “deeply, deeply disturbing.”
“The loss of any life in our correctional facilities is one too many. That does not reflect our values as New Yorkers and his family deserves justice,” she said.
According to the indictment, Levi and Blair were part of an emergency response team that was called to Nantwi’s room by National Guard personnel for an unknown reason. Nantwi was found without a weapon and with his hands raised.
After being told he was to be handcuffed, Nantwi grabbed the vest of a corrections officer, prompting other officers to begin assaulting Nantwi “using fists, batons and boots,” the indictment says.
Nantwi later bit the hand of Blair and another officer, the indictment states. Fitzpatrick said during a press conference that the biting took place well after the assault started.
In addition to the officers alleged to have beaten Nantwi, Fitzpatrick brought charges against two corrections sergeants for failing to intervene during the encounter as well as another officer who he said mopped up blood in a holding cell at the infirmary where Nantwi was beaten. Two other officers conspired to plant a knife in Nantwi’s cell, Fitzpatrick said. He called the coverup “amateurish and ineffective.”
New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Dan Martuscello said the behavior shown by the corrections officers was unacceptable. He said the department was conducting an independent review of the culture in prisons that will include Midstate.
And Martuscello said the strike may have contributed to Nantwi’s death.
“I don't know that there's a direct correlation, but certainly we were under tremendous stress dealing with a strike with almost 10,000 correction officers and sergeants that had walked out to participate in an illegal job action,” he said.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association didn’t back the strike. In a statement, union President Chris Summers said the details of the indictment are “extremely troubling.”
“Every single day, NYSCOPBA members working in correctional facilities face daunting odds and the very real possibility of encountering violence,” Summers said. “The overwhelming majority of our members conduct themselves with professionalism and are committed to providing the safest environment in our correctional facilities despite those challenges they face.”
This story has been updated with new information.
Tagged
public safety
new york state
Politics
Jimmy Vielkind
Jimmy Vielkind covers how state government and politics affect people throughout New York. He has covered Albany since 2008, most recently as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Jimmy led a team of reporters that won a New York Press Club award for coverage of Andrew Cuomo’s downfall and was on a team that won a Gerald Loeb Award for coverage of Amazon’s HQ2 process. A native of the Capitol Region, Jimmy has two degrees in urban planning. His position is funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Reach Jimmy at [email protected].
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