A grand jury has indicted two state correction officers for second-degree murder and eight others for lesser charges in the death of an inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida County in March, according to court papers released Wednesday.

The indictments stem from the death Messiah Nantwi, 22, who was pronounced dead at Wynn Hospital in Utica on March 1. 

Jonah Levi and Caleb Blair are among 15 individuals who were named as part of the investigation and were among 12 who were placed on administrative leave following the incident. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who announced the indictments Tuesday, said the officers indicted had been terminated.

• Levi and Blair also were indicted on a count of manslaughter in the first degree, along with Thomas Eck, Craig Klemick and Daniel Burger.
• Facing manslaughter in the second degree are David Ferrone and Francis Chandler.
• Facing gang assault in the first degree are Levi, Blair, Eck, Burger and Klemick.
• Facing gang assault in the second degree are Levi, Blair, Eck, Klemick, Burger and Chandler.
• Facing conspiracy in the fifth degree are Ferrone, Chandler, Levi, Blair, Eck, Nicholas Vitale, Burger and Klemick.
• Facing offering a false instrument for filing are Ferrone, Chandler, Levi, Blair, Eck, Vitale, Burger and Klemick,
• Facing a misdemeanor crime of conspiracy in the fifth degree are Ferrone, Chandler and Eck.
• Facing a felony crime of tampering with physical evidence are Ferrone, Chandler and Eck.

All entered a plea of not guilty and will be back in court at various dates in May.

Also indicted were Donald Slawson for tampering with physical evidence and Michael Iffert for offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. Both pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance.

According to the indictment, the National Guard, which was on scene as the three-week strike by correction officers was ongoing at the time, requested assistance to deal with an unknown issue with an incarcerated individual. A Mid-State CERT (Corrections Emergency Response Team), the defendants in this case, responded and were directed to a room where Nantwi was. The indictment said the CERT team had no clear understanding why a CERT response was necessary and when Levi and Blair entered the room, “began beating Messiah Nantwi, including multiple strikes to his body and head with their boots.”

Nantwi then became unresponsive and the defendants began bringing him to the infirmary. According to the indictment, another assault on Nantwi occurred in a stairwell as he was carried out of the building. Nantwi was placed in a holding cell at the infirmary and further struck by Blair, the indictment alleged.

“As a result of numerous beatings by defendants and their fellow Correctional Officrs, Incarcerated Individual Messiah Nantwi died due to massive head trauma and numerous other injuries to his body,” the indictment reads. “Defendants’ conduct in beating Messiah Nantwi, in kicking him and stomping on his head for no legitimate law enforcement purpose, and for further assaulting him and injuring him on the stairs exiting his building, and for leaving him unattended in a holding cell for several minutes while displaying no urgency for medical personnel to check on him, demonstrated depraved indifference to the life” of Nantwi.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who served as special prosecutor in the case after the state attorney general’s office recused itself from the investigation, told reporters Wednesday that though some body-worn camera footage has been obtained, “many other correction officers apparently intentionally either turned of their cameras, placed them in an area of concealment of simply looked the other way” during the beating in the room.

Fitzpatrick also alleged some of the defendents conspired to cover up the beating. A DOCCS form that requires an person present in a scenario like this to indicate who was there at the scene, what force was used by the author of the form and what force was witnessed by the author of the form. Fitzpatrick said the indictment alleges every use-of-force report filed by the individuals omitted two people — Chandler and Levi, and those filling out the form knew that information to be false.

According to Fitzpatrick, all alleged co-conspirators met the next day at a diner and agreed to continue with the story that everything they had done was proper.

In addition, Fitzpatrick said Ferrone, Chandler and Eck, along with others known to the grand jury, concocted a scheme to plant a weapon in Nantwi's room after his death and that a camera intentionally hung in a men’s room at the infirmary caught two of the co-conspirators discussing the conspiracy to plant the weapon Nantwi. Chandler asked for a volunteer to have someone come forward and say that it was he who discovered the weapon and Eck volunteered, Fitzpatrick said.

Mid-State Correctional is located across the street from Marcy Correctional Facility, where authorities say the use of force by correction officers led to the death of Robert Brooks in December. Six prison workers have been charged with murder in that case, in which Fitzpatrick also served as special prosecutor.

“I want to thank the staff, my office. Probably 10% of my office has been involved in corrections officers allegedly committing homicides over the last two months,” Fitzpatrick said.

DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III said after the death of Brooks in December, he “vowed that I would not allow violence to become a normalized within the system.”

“Both my executive leadership team and I are continuing to work with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that we assess our culture and determine areas where that can improve,” he said.

Gov. Hochul released a statement Wednesday evening, saying:

Mr. Nantwi's death is a tragedy and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. I greatly appreciate Special Prosecutor William Fitzpatrick and his team’s efforts to hold the alleged perpetrators accountable. 

  “In response to this tragic incident, I directed DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello to begin the termination process for all those involved in Mr. Nantwi's death. Let me be clear: our state correctional facilities must be safe for Correction Officers, civilian staff, the incarcerated population and surrounding communities. We have already begun to implement multiple new policies, including expanding the use of body-worn cameras and bringing in experts for a system-wide culture study. I am committed to working with Commissioner Martuscello and his team to protect the safety and well-being of every single person in a DOCCS facility.”