Killing of Messiah Nantwi

Killing of Messiah Nantwi
Part of 2025 New York corrections officers' strike
Nantwi in an undated photo
DateMarch 1, 2025 (2025-03-01)
Location
TypeMurders by law enforcement
Participants10 prison guards (6 accused of assault, 4 of cover-up)
Deaths1 (Messiah Nantwi)
Accused15 prison guards
Charges

On March 1, 2025, Messiah Nantwi, a 22-year-old Black American man, was beaten by corrections officers who were part of an emergency response team at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, New York. He died at Wynn Hospital in Utica, New York later that day. Nantwi was being held in pre-trial detention on charges of shooting two men in Harlem in April 2023.[1][2][3]

Fifteen staff members were initially placed on leave: ten were directly employed by Mid-State, while the other five were employed by Marcy Correctional Facility and were working at Mid-State during the incident.[4][5] This killing occurred during the 2025 New York corrections officers' strike. As of October 2025 court proceedings against the officers are ongoing.

Background

Messiah Nantwi

Messiah Nantwi was a 22-year-old Black man, who was being held in pre-trial for shooting and killing 19-year-old Jaylen Duncan and 36-year-old Brandon Brunson in Harlem in April 2023.[6][7] He entered the state prison system in May 2024, and had been serving a sentence for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, connected to a 2021 shootout with police.[1]

Correction's officers' strike

On February 18, officers employed by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) began a strike, demanding improved working conditions and the repeal of a state law restricting the use of solitary confinement. Nine prisoners would die during this strike, including Nantwi.[2]

Charges

In March, the Attorney General of New York recused herself from the investigation, and a special prosecutor was appointed.[8]

On April 16, 2025, two guards connected to Nantwi's death were charged with murder.[9] Overall, 10 prison guards were criminally charged in connection with Nantwi's death.[10]

Two of the five Marcy officers were charged with manslaughter.[11] The two prison guards who were charged with second-degree murder were directly employed by Mid-State.[10][5] Five people would be charged with first degree manslaughter.[10] Two sergeants at Mid-State were each charged with second-degree manslaughter after being accused of doing nothing to stop the assaults while supervising the area where Nantawi was beat to death.[10] Of the 10 officers charged, six were accused of assaulting Nantwi, while the other four were only accused of making an effort to cover-up the incident by doing things such as filing false reports and participating in a plot which included planting a makeshift knife and cleaning up blood in Nantwi’s prison cell in an attempt to destroy evidence.[10] Six of them would also be indicted on gang assault.[11]

Eight of the officers would be indicted for conspiracy, four for tampering with physical evidence, and nine for using a false instrument for filing a report.[11] As of August 2025, one officer, Nicholas Vitale, has pled guilty to offering a false instrument for filing and two others, Joshua Bartlett and Nathan Palmer, pled guilty to hindering prosecution and falsifying business records. Four additional unindicted officers also accepted plea offers.[12][13] In December, while awaiting sentencing, Bartlett was indicted by a grand jury on separate sexual assault charges.[14]

On June 17, Nantwi's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officers, the supervisor of the prison, and commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Marcelo, Philip (2025-03-04). "15 prison staffers placed on leave after the death of a man incarcerated in New York". AP News. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  2. 1 2 Marcelo, Philip; Sisak, Michael R. (2025-03-03). "State police launch probe into inmate death as prison system roiled by illegal guard strike". AP News. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  3. ↑ Ransom, Jan (2025-03-02). "N.Y. State Police Investigate Death of Another Inmate at Upstate Prison". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  4. ↑ Stack, Liam; Ransom, Jan (2025-03-05). "15 N.Y. Prison Workers Placed on Leave as Inmate's Death Is Investigated". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  5. 1 2 "DOCCS Names Correctional Staff as 'Persons of Interest' in Mid-State Facility Death Investigation". WKTV. March 26, 2025. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
  6. ↑ "NYPD searching for gunman following deadly shooting at Harlem smoke shop - CBS New York". www.cbsnews.com. 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  7. ↑ "Accused Harlem smoke shop killer Messiah Nantwi arraigned - CBS New York". www.cbsnews.com. 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  8. ↑ Ransom, Jan (2025-03-06). "New York Attorney General Recuses Herself From Inquiry Into Prison Death". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  9. ↑ Ransom, Jan (April 16, 2025). "2 Guards Charged With Murder in Beating Death of Prisoner in New York". The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Hill, Michael; Collins, Dave (April 16, 2025). "NY prison guards beat an inmate to death then tried to cover it up, prosecutors say". Associated Press. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 "Multiple COs Indicted in Death of Mid-State Inmate Messiah Nantwi: Court Video, Indictment Document and Statements". WKTV. April 17, 2025. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
  12. ↑ Mills, Sean I. (2025-07-29). "FACT SHEET: Where every CO case stands in Marcy inmate deaths". Rome Sentinel. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
  13. ↑ "Former New York prison guard pleads guilty in connection with inmate's beating death". AP News. 2025-05-30. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  14. ↑ Pritchard, Casey (2025-12-03). "Mid-State CO awaiting sentencing arrested and charged". Utica Observer Dispatch. Retrieved 2025-12-03.
  15. ↑ Lyons, Brendan J. (2025-06-17). "Federal lawsuit filed on behalf of man fatally beaten by prison officers". Times Union. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
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