Overview
- An upstate jury convicted former guard Jonah Levi of first-degree manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy, and filing a false instrument, and acquitted him of second-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi.
- Prosecutors said officers punched and kicked Nantwi more than 60 times, including 15 blows to the head, causing fatal head trauma and other injuries.
- The killing took place during an illegal guard strike that left prisons short-staffed and led the governor to deploy National Guard troops to help keep order.
- Levi served on an emergency response team that arrived after a headcount dispute in Nantwi’s unit, when officers moved to handcuff him and a struggle followed.
- Several other guards have pleaded guilty to lesser charges, with more trials set for May and June, a sequence that could widen accountability inside New York’s prison system.