TRIAL STARTS FOR NYS PRISON GUARD CHARGED WITH MURDERING MESSIAH NANTWI
JONAH LEVY IS CHARGED WITH KILLING NANTWI AT THE MID-STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY IN 2024, 3 MONTHS AFTER ROBERT BROOKS WAS KILLED AT ANOTHER NEW YORK STATE PRISON
Former New York State prison guard Jonah Levy is accused of murdering Messiah Nantwi at the Mid-State Correctional Facility on Mar. 1, 2025. Levy’s trial started on Monday in Utica. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
UTICA, NEW YORK Mar. 24, 2026
The first trial of the group of New York State prison guards charged with killing prisoner Messiah Nantwi in 2024 started in Utica on Monday.
"With utter depravity and recklessness you will hear eyewitness testimony that Jonah Levy stomped Messiah Nantwi on the head and pathetically his brother officers did nothing," Special Prosecutor William J. Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga County District Attorney, told the jury during opening arguments on Tuesday.
Levy's stomping left "massive wounds inflicted to his head," Fitzpatrick added, referring to Nantwi. That created "massive head trauma and numerous injuries to his body."
Nantwi, then 22, was beaten with fists, batons and boots for at least five minutes in three different locations inside the Mid-State Correctional Facility on Mar. 1, 2025. Guards beat Nantwi so sadistically they left a boot-print on his face, Fitzpatrick said.
As Nantwi was being killed, a sergeant responsible for supervising Nantwi's killers explained Mid-State's usual way of dealing with alleged troublemakers—like Nantwi—to a new co-worker.
"You fuck up, you fucking got beat. Period. Period," the Corrections Sergeant bragged to a National Guard soldier in a leaked body camera recording exclusively obtained by The Free Lance News. "It was the fucking wild, wild west here."
Levi, the former correction officer on trial, faces six charges, including second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. If found guilty, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
Special Prosecutor William J. Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga County District Attorney, making opening arguments to the jury in the case of former New York State prison guard Jonah Levy, accusing of murder for allegedly beating Messiah Nantwi to death. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
Graeme Spicer, Levy's attorney said his client did "everything he was supposed to do given what his directives were." According to Spicer, Nantwi killed himself because "he was acting violent. he was on Spice.” He was, allegedly, "waving a pencil around. A sharpened #2 pencil.”
"Jonah Levy,” Spicer said, “ did not employ any force that cause Messiah Nantwi's death"
Levy was found to have used unjustifed force against another prisoner at Mid-State, Shayzon Taylor, on Sept. 20, 2023, Albany’s NBC affiliate WNYT News Channel 13 reported last year.
Previously unreported, Taylor sued Levy and eight other guards earlier this month for allegedly violating his federal constitutional rights by beating him ”sadistically and maliciously.”
Levy was suspended without pay for 30 days, fined $6,000 and placed on 12 months probation starting in May 2024, according to the legal agreement that settled the administrative disciplinary charges against Levy. Levy was still serving that 12 month probationary period when he allegedly killed Nantwi.
“That disciplinary period covered the time frame that Messiah was murdered at Mid-State by the same C.O.,” Michelle Taylor, Shayzon’s wife, told News Channel 13. “Something has to be done. This cannot keep going on.”
Nantwi's killing took place less than three months after another "beat-up squad" of white guardskilled Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9, 2024. Marcy is directly across the road from Mid-State.
Nantwi’s killing took place on the 15th day ofa wildcat strike by guards that saw National Guard troops replace strikers. Some guards continued working. Members of Mid-State’s prison SWAT team—called a Corrections Emergency Response Team or"CERT" for short—who stayed on the job killed Nantwi.
10 guards were indicted for killing Nantwi or attempting to cover it up. Of those 10, six pleaded guilty. Four chose trials, including Levi.
Additionally, four more guards pleaded guilty.
Finally, after the indictment was issued, Fitzpatrick, the Special Prosecutor, said an additional six guards agreed to cooperate with the prosecution and would testify against anyone that went to trial. Its not known if the four guards who pleaded guilty are any of the six who Fitzpatrick said agreed to cooperate.
After killing Nantwi, the guards "concocted a scheme to posthumously plant a weapon in Mr. Nantwi's room" to cover-up the murder, Fitzpatrick, the special prosecutor, said. They also filed false reports. A "body-worn camera caught two of the conspirators discussing" the scheme to plant a shank.
The indictment alleges that, at the direction of Sgt. Francis Chandler Jr., the group "assembled at RASPBERRIES, a local diner, for breakfast in order to develop and coordinate the false narrative that nothing improper was done to Messiah Nantwi."
Fitzpatrick called the botched cover-up "amateur and ineffective."
Graeme Spicer defense attorney for Jonah Levy speaks to the jury during opening arguments. Levy is accused of murder for killing Nantwi. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
Nantwi was serving time for illegally possessing a handgun he fired at police in the Bronx. He was also awaiting trial on two murder charges in Manhattan.
Fitzpatrick said Nantwi held up a headcount and was "interjecting himself in another individuals' effort to obtain medication."
Because of the strike, National Guardsmen were assigned to guard housing units at Mid-State instead of Correction Officers. Not all the guards in every prison joined the strike. Among those who remained on-duty at Mid-State were members of the prison equivalent of a SWAT team: a Corrections Emergency Response Team, or CERT team.
Guardsmen reported Nantwi was a problem. A CERT team was dispatched. Fitzpatrick said most of the defendants were CERT members.
"None of them,” Fitzpatrick said,”were wearing mandated body-worn cameras,” despite being required to by state prison policy.
By the time they arrived, Fitzpatrick said Nantwi’s roommate intervened and “that situation had resolved itself.”
Nantwi had his hands raised when the CERT team arrived, but he resisted when they tried to handcuff him, the indictment alleges. When he “grabbed the vest” of a guard, guards started beating him. During the fight, Nantwi bit guards Caleb Blair and Thomas Eck. After that, guards beat Nantwi until he was “no longer responsive,” the indictment alleges.
Former New York State prison guard Jonah Levy is standing trial for the murder of killing Messiah Nantwi at the Mid-State Correctional Facility on Mar. 1, 2025. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
They also beat Nantwi again while they dragged him handcuffed down a flight of stairs. Finally he was “dumped in a holding cell” at the prison’s infirmary, the indictment alleges. That’s where Blair—one of the two guards charged with murder—beat Nantwi more, according to the indictment.
David Ferrone and Chandler, both sergeants, were there and could have stopped the deadly assault but did not.
“These two sergeants in a supervisory role in Mr. Nantwi’s room did absolutely nothing to stop the beating he was enduring and offered absolutely no assistance to him,” Fitzpatrick said at the news conference.
After the beating, Sgt. Ferrone allowed the names of both Sgt. Chandler and Levi to be left out of official use of force reports filed by members of the group “to mislead those investigating the use of force,” the indictment alleges.
Sgt. Ferrone also came up with the plan to plant a shank in Nantwi’s cell. Eck volunteered to “find” it.
They met at Raspberries, the diner, the morning after the killing to make sure everyone had the fake story straight.
Fitzpatrick was assigned to prosecute both Brooks' and Nantwi’s killings because Letitia James, designated by law to investigate killings of unarmed citizens by law enforcement,had to recuse herself because of a conflict of interest. Her office wasalready defending some of the accused killers from excessive force lawsuits
Sgt. Chandler Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree gang assault in exchange for a four-year sentence in state prison.
Sgt. Donald Slawson pleaded guilty to attempted tampering with physical evidence. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
Sgt. Ferrone pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge
Sgt. Michael Iffert was indicted on first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He pleaded guilty to attempted offering a false instrument for filing. He was sentenced to a one year conditional discharge.
Nicholas Vitale pleaded guilty to first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
Daniel Burger pleaded guilty to first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison
Jonah Levy (r) and (l) Graeme Spicer listening to the opening argument to the jury made by Special Prosecutor. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
Adam Joseph pleaded guilty as charged to official misconduct. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
Frank Jacobs pleaded guilty as charged to official misconduct. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
Joshua Bartlett pleaded guilty as charged to hindering prosecution and falsifying business records. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 7.
Nathan Palmer pleaded guilty as charged to hindering prosecution and falsifying business records. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 7.
Blair is indicted on second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He is scheduled to go to trial May 4.
Craig Klemick is indicted on first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He is scheduled to go to trial May 4.
Eck is indicted on first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy. He is scheduled to go to trial June 1.
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