10 NY prison guards indicted, 2 for murder, in connection to inmate's beating death

Ten New York corrections officers were charged in an 11-count grand jury indictment on Wednesday in connection to the March 1 beating death of an inmate, Messiah Nantwi, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News.

Two officers, Jonah Levi and Caleb Blair, were charged with the most serious offense in the indictment -- second-degree murder -- and are also each facing five additional charges of first-degree manslaughter, first- and second-degree gang assault, conspiracy and intent to defraud.

Levi and Blair, along with the other eight correctional officers indicted in this case, were arraigned during a hearing on Wednesday afternoon. They pleaded not guilty to all charges, according to court documents. ABC News has reached out to attorneys representing Levi and Blair but requests for comment were not immediately returned.

New York Gov. Kathy announced the indictments on Tuesday. Nantwi, 22, was serving a five-year sentence for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon at Mid-State Correctional Facility, a medium-security state prison in the town of Marcy in Oneida County, New York.

"The tragic death of Mr. Nantwi at the hands of correction officers, who are responsible for protecting the incarcerated population is deeply, deeply disturbing," Hochul said in a video released by her office on Tuesday. "The loss of any life in our correctional facilities is one too many."

Hochul said that she "immediately terminated" the corrections officers who were indicted in connection to Nantwi's death.

"I express my condolences -- my deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Nantwi and our hearts go out to all of them in the aftermath of this horrific crime," Hochul said.

The termination of the correctional officers comes after a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed to ABC News on March 26 that 15 persons of interest were identified in connection to Nantwi's death.

Three of those people were suspended without pay and 12 were placed on administrative leave with pay, "pending the results of an ongoing internal disciplinary review process," the spokesperson said.

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision released the names of the persons of interest, including guards from the adjacent Mid-State and Marcy facilities.

A special prosecutor -- Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick -- was assigned to investigate this case after State Attorney General Letitia James's Office of Special Investigation (OSI) announced last month that her office is recusing itself from the investigation into Nantwi's death, citing "internal conflicts."

In a March 6 statement, James explained that her office's Division of State Counsel represents state agencies, including the Department of Corrections and correction officers.

"OSI checks for any internal conflicts that could challenge the integrity of a future investigation," she said. "When the corrections officers involved in the events preceding Mr. Nantwi's death were identified, OSI confirmed that four of those corrections officers are defendants in other matters where they are or were represented by attorneys in OAG's State Counsel Division."

Nantwi's in-custody death came amid a massive correction officer strike over working conditions in New York prisons that lasted for 22 days and led to the firing of more than 2,000 prison guards.

His death was also the second in Oneida County prisons since December 2024 when Robert Brooks, an inmate incarcerated at the Marcy Correctional Facility -- which is across the street from Mid-State -- was fatally beaten at the prison.

In February, 10 former prison guards were charged in Brooks' death.