10 guards charged over the fatal beating of a New York inmate, including 2 with murder

Source: AP

By MICHAEL HILL and DAVE COLLINS
Updated 1:01 PM CDT, April 16, 2025

UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — Ten New York prison guards were charged Wednesday in connection with the fatal beating of a 22-year-old inmate last month — including two charged with murder. It’s the second time a group of correctional officers in the state was indicted for a death behind bars this year.

The indictment says several guards severely beat Messiah Nantwi, a prisoner at the Mid-State Correctional Facility, sending him to a hospital where he died on March 1. As a result of the beatings, Nantwi “died due to massive head trauma and numerous other injuries to his body,” the indictment said.

Nantwi’s death came several months after Robert Brooks was fatally beaten at the Marcy Correctional Facility, just across the street from the Mid-State prison. Six guards have pleaded not guilty to murder charges in Brooks’ death and other prison employees have also been charged.

The Utica-area facility was one of many state prisons that was struggling to function during a three-week wildcat strike by guards. Correctional officers who were upset over working conditions began illegally walking off the job Feb. 17 at many state prisons, forcing the governor to send National Guard troops in to maintain operations. Incarcerated people and their advocates complained that services and conditions deteriorated during the walkout.


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