Additional Coverage:
- A former New York prison guard is found guilty of manslaughter in an inmate’s fatal beating (apnews.com)
Former Corrections Officer Convicted of Manslaughter in Inmate Beating at Mid-State Correctional Facility
UTICA, N.Y. – A former corrections officer, Jonah Levi, was found guilty Wednesday of manslaughter in the death of inmate Messiah Nantwi at the Mid-State Correctional Facility in upstate New York. The jury also convicted Levi of gang assault and conspiracy related to the fatal incident and the subsequent cover-up, but acquitted him of second-degree murder.
Messiah Nantwi, 22, suffered a fatal beating on March 1, 2025, when he was struck repeatedly by guards using fists, boots, and batons. Prosecutors reported Nantwi died from massive head trauma and other severe injuries.
The attack occurred amid a wildcat strike by officers, which led the governor to deploy National Guard members to maintain order. Nantwi’s death followed a similar fatal beating of inmate Robert Brooks at a nearby prison several months earlier.
Levi was a member of an emergency response team called to Nantwi’s housing unit after the National Guard requested backup during a headcount. According to witness testimony, Nantwi initially resisted handcuffing and grabbed a guard’s vest but later calmed down when additional officers arrived.
Prosecutors said the beating escalated after Nantwi bit a guard’s hand. District Attorney William J.
Fitzpatrick told jurors that Levi stomped on Nantwi’s head multiple times and took part in efforts to conceal the assault.
“The evidence of guilt is simple and overwhelming,” Fitzpatrick said in closing arguments. “Stomping on someone’s head is not an attempt to get their attention. You’ve divorced yourself from the human race.”
Levi’s attorney, Lewis G. Spicer, argued that his client did not use force that caused Nantwi’s death and denied that Levi kicked Nantwi in the head.
More than half a dozen other corrections officers have pleaded guilty to lesser charges connected to the beating and cover-up. Another former guard charged with murder, Caleb Blair, is scheduled for trial on May 4. Additional trials for guards charged with manslaughter are set for June.
Messiah Nantwi had entered the state prison system in May 2024 and was serving a five-year sentence for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, stemming from a 2021 incident involving gunfire exchanged with police officers.
Nantwi’s father, Patterson Nantwi, released a statement emphasizing the significance of the verdict: “No one should have to fear losing their life at the hands of those who are supposed to care for them.”
District Attorney Fitzpatrick expressed gratitude for the jurors’ work and acknowledged that this verdict marks only the first step toward justice for Nantwi.