15 prison staffers placed on leave following inmate death in New York

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifteen prison staffers have been placed on leave following the death of an inmate in New York state, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday

The Democrat said the state department of corrections staffers were taken off the job at her direction as state police have launched a probe into the death of Messiah Nantwi at the Mid-State Correctional Facility on Saturday.

“While the investigation into this incident is ongoing, early reports point to extremely disturbing conduct leading to Mr. Nantwi’s death and I am committed to accountability for all involved,” she said in a statement. “The people of New York extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Nantwi’s family and loved ones.”

State police and corrections officials have declined to provide details of the incident other than to say the 22-year-old died at a hospital in Utica.

But the New York County Defender Services, which had been representing Nantwi as he awaited trial in the killing of two men, said Monday that he suffered a “violent senseless death at the hands of state corrections officers.”

The office also described Nantwi as a “bright” young man dealing with “significant mental health challenges” following a “dysfunctional violent upbringing.”

Manhattan prosecutors say Nantwi shot and killed Jaylen Duncan, 19, on a Harlem street in April 2023. The following evening, they say, he shot and killed Brandon Brunson, 36, at a Harlem smoke shop after an argument.

Nantwi had entered the state prison system last May and had been serving a five-year sentence for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon related to an exchange of gunfire with police officers in 2021. At the time he was shot multiple times, while the officers were uninjured.

Hochul said Nantwi’s death is a “reminder of the need for real systemic change” within the state prison system.

She noted she mandated the use of body-worn cameras, expanded whistleblower hotlines and brought in outside experts to conduct a review of the prison system in response to the December death of Robert Brooks, an inmate at the Marcy Correctional Facility.

Six guards have been charged with murder in Brooks’ death. The Mid-State prison is located across the street from the Marcy prison.

Meanwhile, former inmates and their families and supporters rallied earlier Tuesday at the State Capitol in Albany in response to the latest prison death.

“This is not just about any one isolated tragedy. It is about generations of unchecked violence, racism, and impunity,” Thomas Gant, a community organizer with Center for Community Alternatives, said in a statement from the organizers after the event. “It is about a prison system that operates as a death sentence for far too many. And it is about the urgent demand for accountability, justice, and freedom.”

Hochul also implored corrections staff participating in a weekslong wildcat strike to return to work, calling the illegal work stoppage a “significant safety risk.”

Corrections officers began the walkout on Feb. 17 to protest working conditions.

Last Thursday, Hochul announced a binding agreement between the state and officers’ union to end the picketing. Officers were required to return to work by Saturday to avoid being disciplined for striking.

“My Administration remains committed to working in good faith with Correction Officers to improve safety and working conditions within the correctional system, but we will not compromise on the need for responsible, law-abiding behavior by every single person who walks into a DOCCS facility,” the governor said in a statement.