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A grand jury will soon review evidence in the death of Messiah Nantwi, an inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy. Nantwi, 22, died at Wynn Hospital in Utica last month after an alleged violent encounter with prison guards. Two employees are suspended without pay, and 12 more are on administrative leave, as reported by Syracuse.com.
According to New York Focus, Nantwi's cellmate, the only witness in the room, claims guards beat Nantwi until he was unconscious. The cellmate recounted that officers from the Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) entered their cell and attacked Nantwi without provocation. The cellmate was forced to clean up the blood after the incident.
This case follows the December death of another inmate, Robert Brooks, in a nearby facility, which also involved alleged guard misconduct. In response to these incidents, Governor Kathy Hochul deployed the National Guard to manage the prisons during a recent strike by corrections officers.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, appointed as special prosecutor, will present the case to the grand jury. Nantwi's death has raised concerns about the treatment of inmates and the use of force in New York state prisons. The investigation is ongoing, and the grand jury proceedings are expected to begin early next month.