Though the trial of Jonah Levi is over, there are three other corrections officers from Mid-State Correctional Facility facing trials in May and June.
Jonah Levi went before Judge Nolan on March 23 and had been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering a false instrument for file in connection with the beating death of Messiah Nantwi.
Nantwi, an inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility, was brutally beaten to death on March 1, 2025, by a Correction Emergency Response Team to the point of unresponsiveness and beaten twice more, with his hands cuffed behind his back.
After the death, a grand jury alleges the corrections officers got together to plant evidence and submit false testimony.
Of his charges, Levi was found not guilty of second-degree murder, but guilty of the five other charges. As such, he faces a determinate sentence of 5 to 25 years in state prison.
The trial of Jonah Levi
For eight days, Levi went before Judge Michael Nolan at the Oneida County Courthouse where the prosecution laid out Levi’s role in the death of Nantwi and called 14 witnesses and the defense called one witness, for 15 total testimonies.
On the sixth day, closing statements were given and the jury was given its instructions.
Over the course of the trial, witnesses and experts have given their testimonies under oath, from Nantwi’s cellmate who witnessed his friend’s beating death, to one of Levi’s coworkers and the paramedic who worked on Nantwi on the way to Wynn Hospital, and the medical examiner who performed the autopsy.
Judge Michael Nolan encouraged the jurors to take their time when deliberating and that there was no set time that they had to return a verdict.
“It could be 10 minutes, it could be 10 hours, it could be 10 days,” Judge Nolan said during jury instructions on March 30.
On April 1, the jury came back with a note saying they had reached a verdict.
Levi could be seen jittery as he sat down at the table on April 1 in the Oneida County Courthouse in Utica, as the jury read their verdict, the color drained from his face. An audible sob could be heard from his family who sat behind him.
“I’m happy with the verdict. It reflects the seriousness of [Levi’s] conduct,” Special Prosecutor William Fitzpatrick said. The special prosecutor said that at sentencing, the people will push for the maximum.
Fitzpatrick continued, saying the death of Nantwi was “despicable” considering exactly what happened.
“Ten days after the people of Marcy were indicted for murder and other charges in the death of Robert Brooks, you have a homicide committed 500 yards away,” Fitzpatrick said. “And every person there either concealed their body-worn cameras or didn’t even put them on.”
Fitzpatrick called for mandatory body-worn cameras for corrections officers and harsh penalties if they’re found to be obscuring them or not wearing them at all.
“I hope I’m not standing here talking about this again,” Fitzpatrick said. “It has to be mandatory and the second time you’re caught without a body-worn camera, you’re fired. No six years of appeals, you’re done. Make it part of the contract. And add additional cameras to the facilities.”
Patterson Nantwi, Messiah Nantwi’s father, said in a statement that the loss of his son was a pain no parent should endure.
“He was loved by many, and he deserved to be treated with dignity and respect,” said Patterson. “This verdict sets an important precedent — not just for Messiah, but for everyone who is incarcerated. No one should have to fear losing their life at the hands of those who are supposed to care for them.”
Remaining corrections officers
The following is a list of the other corrections officers going to trial and their court dates.
A total of 14 corrections officers were named in a grand jury indictment, and of the 13, nine have taken plea deals.
Nicholas Vitale, Joshua Bartlett, Nathan Palmer, Daniel Burger, David Ferrone, Francis Chandler, Adam Joseph, Donald Slawson, and Frank Jacobs have all pleaded guilty to lesser charges, with some, like Chandler, pleading to second-degree gang assault to avoid a trial for a second-degree murder charge.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: With Jonah Levi trial over, 3 more COs face charges in Nantwi death
Reporting by Casey Pritchard, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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