An Oneida County jury convicted former correction officer Jonah Levi last week for participating in the deadly beating of Messiah Nantwi, a Harlem man incarcerated at the medium-security Mid-State Correctional Facility. The incident took place in March 2025, when at least 18 prison staff members allegedly punched, hit, and stomped on the 22-year-old or stood by and watched, similarly to the murder of Robert Brooks roughly four months before this incident.
“It won’t bring Messiah back, but I haven’t really slept since this happened,” said Patterson Nantwi, father of Messiah Nantwi. “Maybe this is a step toward me getting some rest.”
Levi was found guilty of most charges in addition to the top murder charge: first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy, and first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing in connection with the death. He reportedly faces up to 25 years in the same state prison system he once worked for.
“Messiah Nantwi should be alive today,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul in an emailed statement. “I have been clear that anyone responsible for his death must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. My thoughts are with his family, and we will continue strengthening safety, security, and transparency within our correctional system to keep everyone safe from harm.”
Brooks and Nantwi’s deaths sent shockwaves early last year over the state’s prison conditions, but coincided with an illegal correction officers strike. Hochul and Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) commissioner Daniel Marticello ultimately moved to suspend or fire many of the officers allegedly involved in the killings. Advocates spent last year urgently demanding reforms from passing an oversight package to bolstering release mechanisms like parole, resentencing, and clemency.
Several other corrections officers still face trial for Nantwi’s death, while a handful pleaded guilty to their charges last year, largely for covering up the incident or in exchange for testifying. A total of 10 guards, including Levi, were indicted.
The civil rights law firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP (ECBAWM) and attorney Owen Lamb filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Nantwi’s estate last June. According to the lawsuit’s court documents, Levi was allegedly placed on a year-long disciplinary evaluation after allegedly beating another incarcerated man. The filing also alleges that commissioner Marticello was “aware of the specific risk of serious harm posed by Defendant Levi.”
Lamb feels the ruling helps restore the faith in the system, especially with the Utica jury agreeing to the conviction. He hopes the case will influence reforms to prevent further questionable deaths. Civil rights attorney Earl Ward and fellow ECBAWM partner Katie Rosenfeld released a joint statement calling Nantwi’s and Brooks’ deaths “a disturbing pattern of violence and cover-ups in New York’s prisons that DOCCS has long ignored.”
“The jury’s conviction of former corrections officer Jonah Levi affirms what the evidence showed: Messiah was restrained and defenseless when officers beat him, while others stood by and failed to intervene to stop the fatal assault,” they added. “The evidence also showed a coordinated effort to cover up the attack, including planting a weapon in Messiah’s cell to justify the use of force.”
Levi’s defense attorney, Graeme Spicer, did not comment on the ruling, citing his policy of not speaking to the press about pending matters.
While body-worn cameras captured footage of officers beating Robert Brooks in December 2024, the prison staff involved in Nantwi’s death did not wear them. Several people incarcerated in Mid-State at the time recounted and corroborated the incident to the New York Times.
A DOCCS spokesperson denounced Levi and pointed to department efforts to improve body-worn camera policies and enlist human rights organizations to assess safety and cultural issues in the department.
“The actions of this former officer do not reflect the values or standard of conduct expected of all DOCCS employees,” said the DOCCS spokesperson. “We immediately investigated and referred this matter to law enforcement for prosecution. We remain committed to maintaining an environment that prioritizes the safety and well-being of everyone in our facilities.”
However, Jose Saldaña, who advocates for elder parole reform as director of the Release Aging People in Prison campaign, said oversight and body-worn cameras cannot repair a broken system. He pointed to historical and continued racism through mass incarceration and believes the conviction cannot fully address “the structural problems of brutality” at correctional facilities.
“I spent 38 years in prison and I have never heard or [seen] [corrections officers] beat a white incarcerated person to death,” Saldaña said. “They know when to stop when it comes to white incarcerated people, but have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever to beat a Black person to death … in all the years that I’ve been in prison, I never believed that oversight will protect me from being brutally beat[en] to death. I didn’t believe the cameras [would] stop them from beating me to death. The only thing that [I was] concerned about was to get out of prison as soon as possible.”