Utica, New York — A former correctional officer was found guilty of manslaughter Wednesday in the fatal beating of an inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
The jury in Utica, New York also found Jonah Levy guilty of gang assault and conspiracy in the death Christ Nantoi on March 1, 2025 and the subsequent cover-up. Jurors acquitted him of second-degree murder.
Levy was the first guard to stand trial for Nanto’s death.
Nantwi, 22 years old, was beaten dozens of times by guards who used their fists, shoes and batons. He died of severe head trauma and other injuries to his body caused by the beating, according to prosecutors.
The beating occurred during a random strike by several officers, forcing the governor to send members of the National Guard to help maintain order. Nantui’s death also came several months later Robert Brooks was fatally beaten In a separate prison across the road from Midstate.
Levy was part of an emergency response team called to the Nantui Housing Unit to assist National Guard members who requested support after Nantui was uncooperative during a prisoner count. One witness testified that Nantui calmed down once backup was called.
Corrections officers who responded to the call began beating Nantwi in his room after he refused to be handcuffed and grabbed a guard’s jacket. Prosecutors said the beating intensified after Nantwi bit a guard’s hand.
Onondaga County Prosecutor William Fitzpatrick told jurors that Levy stomped on Nanto’s head several times and participated in a cover-up by guards.
“The evidence of guilt here, ladies and gentlemen, is simple and overwhelming. If you step on someone’s head, you’re not trying to get their attention,” Fitzpatrick told jurors during closing arguments Monday. “You have divorced yourself from the human race.”
Levy’s attorney, Louis J. Spicer, told the jury that his client did not use any force that led to Nanto’s death.
“Jonah Levy did not kick Christ Nantois in the head,” Spicer said in his closing statement.
More than a half-dozen others pleaded guilty to lesser charges related to the battery and the alleged cover-up.
Another former guard accused of murder, Caleb Blair, is scheduled to stand trial on May 4, along with another defendant who will be tried on a charge of first-degree manslaughter. Another guard accused of manslaughter is scheduled to go on trial on June 1.
Nantui entered the state prison system in May 2024 and was serving a five-year sentence on a second-degree criminal possession of a weapon charge related to the gun exchange. Shooting with police officers in 2021. He was shot multiple times, but the officers were not injured.