Ex-NY Prison Guard on Trial for Murder in Inmate Beating Death

A former New York correctional officer is facing murder charges for allegedly stomping on a 22-year-old inmate's head during a fatal beating. Prosecutors say Messiah Nantwi suffered 69 separate blows from multiple guards at Mid-State Correctional Facility in March 2025.

UTICA, N.Y. — The murder trial began Tuesday for a former New York correctional officer accused of delivering fatal head injuries to a young inmate during a vicious group assault by prison guards.

Jonah Levi stands as the first of ten indicted guards to face a jury following the death of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi at Mid-State Correctional Facility on March 1, 2025. The incident occurred during a period of chaos when the state’s prison system was struggling through an unauthorized guard strike.

According to prosecutors, Nantwi endured 69 individual strikes from correctional officers who attacked him with fists, footwear, and nightsticks across multiple assaults.

Special prosecutor William Fitzpatrick of Onondaga County informed jurors during opening statements that forensic teams discovered DNA evidence on boots seized from Levi and another guard who also faces second-degree murder charges.

“With utter depravity and recklessness, you will hear eyewitness testimony that Jonah Levi multiple times stomped Messiah Nantwi on the head. And pathetically, his brother officers did nothing,” Fitzpatrick stated.

Medical evidence shows Nantwi died from severe head trauma and additional bodily injuries sustained during the attacks, prosecutors revealed.

Defense attorney Lewis G. Spicer argued that his client’s actions that morning were warranted based on Nantwi’s hostile conduct. Spicer maintained that Levi did not employ any force that caused Nantwi’s death.

“Mr. Levi was doing everything he was supposed to do,” Spicer told the jury.

The fatal incident occurred months after another inmate, Robert Brooks, was beaten to death at a neighboring prison facility. Advocacy groups point to both deaths as evidence of systemic brutality within New York’s correctional system.

Nantwi’s death also happened while New York prisons operated under severe strain from a three-week unauthorized strike by guards protesting workplace conditions, prompting the governor to deploy National Guard personnel.

Levi belonged to an emergency response unit summoned to Nantwi’s cell to assist National Guard members who requested help after Nantwi resisted during a prisoner count. Fitzpatrick said the situation had already been resolved when the response team arrived.

Multiple guards initiated the assault on Nantwi after he resisted handcuffing and grabbed an officer’s vest. The violence escalated when Nantwi bit a guard’s hand, according to prosecution claims.

“He’s dead because he protested cuffing up and because he tried to bite someone’s finger,” Fitzpatrick explained.

Prosecutors allege guards fabricated evidence by claiming they found a homemade weapon as part of a conspiracy to conceal their actions.

Spicer countered that prosecutors presented an “extremely sanitized” account of events. He described Nantwi, who had consumed synthetic marijuana, as the primary aggressor in the confrontation.

“You’re going to hear him fighting back,” Spicer said.

Unlike the Brooks case, which featured body camera recordings, video evidence may play a smaller role in this trial. Prosecutors say several guards involved in Nantwi’s death either weren’t wearing required body cameras, switched them off, or deliberately avoided recording the incident.

Beyond murder, Levi faces charges including first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy, and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing.

Levi represents the initial guard to stand trial in this case. More than six other officers have accepted plea agreements for reduced charges connected to both the incident and the alleged cover-up attempt.

Nantwi had entered the state correctional system in May 2024, serving a five-year term for second-degree criminal weapon possession stemming from a 2021 gunfight with police officers. During that encounter, Nantwi sustained multiple gunshot wounds while the officers remained unharmed.

Manhattan prosecutors also connected Nantwi to the April 2023 shooting death of 19-year-old Jaylen Duncan on a Harlem street. They allege he killed 36-year-old Brandon Brunson the next evening at a Harlem smoke shop following a dispute.