Prison guards indicted in connection to inmate’s death, Hochul says
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(NEW YORK CITY) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Tuesday that a grand jury handed down a number of criminal indictments against multiple state correctional officers in connection to the March 1 beating death of an inmate, Messiah Nantwi.
“The tragic death of Mr. Nantwi at the hands of correction officers, who are responsible for protecting the incarcerated population is deeply, deeply disturbing,” Hochul said in a video released by her office on Tuesday. “The loss of any life in our correctional facilities is one too many.”
Nantwi, 22, was serving a five-year sentence for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon at Mid-State Correctional Facility, a medium-security state prison in the town of Marcy in Oneida County, New York.
Hochul said that she “immediately terminated” the corrections officers who were indicted in connection to Nantwi’s death. The officer’s names have not been released so far and it is unclear how many officers were indicted. ABC News reached out to Hochul’s office but a request for comment was not returned.
“I express my condolences — my deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Nantwi and our hearts go out to all of them in the aftermath of this horrific crime,” Hochul said.
The termination of the correctional officers comes after a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed to ABC News on March 26 that 15 persons of interest were identified in connection to Nantwi’s death.
Three of those people were suspended without pay and 12 were placed on administrative leave with pay, “pending the results of an ongoing internal disciplinary review process,” the spokesperson said.
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision released the names of the persons of interest, including guards from the adjacent Mid-State and Marcy facilities, but it is unclear who was indicted.
A special prosecutor — Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick — was assigned to investigate this case after State Attorney General Letitia James’s Office of Special Investigation (OSI) announced last month that her office is recusing itself from the investigation into Nantwi’s death, citing “internal conflicts.”
In a March 6 statement, James explained that her office’s Division of State Counsel represents state agencies, including the Department of Corrections and correction officers.
“OSI checks for any internal conflicts that could challenge the integrity of a future investigation,” she said. “When the corrections officers involved in the events preceding Mr. Nantwi’s death were identified, OSI confirmed that four of those corrections officers are defendants in other matters where they are or were represented by attorneys in OAG’s State Counsel Division.”
Nantwi’s in-custody death came amid a massive correction officer strike over working conditions in New York prisons that lasted for 22 days and led to the firing of more than 2,000 prison guards.
His death was also the second in Oneida County prisons since December 2024 when Robert Brooks, an inmate incarcerated at the Marcy Correctional Facility — which is across the street from Mid-State — was fatally beaten at the prison.
In February, 10 former prison guards were charged in Brooks’ death.
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(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) —
The son of a local sheriff’s deputy allegedly opened fire near the Student Union at Florida State University in Tallahassee on Thursday, killing two people and injuring six others, authorities said.
The suspect — 20-year-old Pheonix Ikner, a current FSU student — was shot by responders and has been hospitalized, police said. He was taken into custody with non-life-threatening injuries, multiple law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Ikner is the son of a current Leon County sheriff’s deputy, according to Sheriff Walter McNeil. He had access to one of his mother’s personal weapons, which was one of the weapons found at the scene, the sheriff said. It appeared Ikner had a handgun and a shotgun with him, police said.
The suspect’s mother has been a deputy with the department for more than 18 years and “her service to this community has been exceptional,” McNeil said.
The suspect was also a “long-standing member” of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office’s Youth Advisory Council, McNeil said.
He was “engaged in a number of training programs that we have,” the sheriff said, adding, “Not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
The campus has been secured, police said.
Police have not identified the two people killed but said they were not students.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said it’s received six patients, all in fair condition.
Sophomore Paula Maldonado told ABC News she was in class near the Student Union when she heard what sounded like yelling outside.
“Right after, the active threat alarm went off,” she said. “Everyone in my class quickly turned off the lights, put desks to block off the door and hid by the front of the classroom.”
“We were quiet and some were whispering,” Maldonado said. “Some were also crying and helping each other. Like a student next to me told me to put my backpack in front of me to protect myself.”
“A cop came inside and I thought it was the shooter, so it was very scary. But after a couple of minutes another cop came back in and told us to go outside with our hands up, Maldonado said.
Student Daniella Streety told ABC News she was in the building across the street from the Student Union when alert sirens started blaring, and people who were standing outside ran into her building.
Students then fled from the Student Union as law enforcement flooded the scene, she said.
Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the Parkland high school shooting in South Florida in 2018, said some of Jaime’s classmates now attend FSU.
“Incredibly, some of them were just a part of their 2nd school shooting and some were in the student union today,” Guttenberg, who has become a gun reform supporter, wrote on social media. “As a father, all I ever wanted after the Parkland shooting was to help our children be safe. Sadly, because of the many people who refuse to do the right things about reducing gun violence, I am not surprised by what happened today.”
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, “My heart breaks for the students, their families, and faculty at Florida State University. There is no place in American society for violence. Our entire nation is praying for the victims and their families.”
FSU said classes are canceled through Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Olivia Osteen, Sony Salzman and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — Erik and Lyle Menendez have been resentenced to 50 years to life in prison, which makes them immediately eligible for parole — a vindication years in the making for the brothers and their family.
But that doesn’t mean an automatic release from prison.
Here’s a look at what’s next:
The new sentence
Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were arrested in March 1990, were initially sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. The brothers said they committed the murders in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.
At the conclusion of Tuesday’s resentencing hearing, Judge Michael Jesic granted them a new sentence of 50 years to life in prison, which follows the recommendation made in October by then-Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
Gascón recommended the brothers’ sentences of life without parole be removed, and said they should instead be sentenced for murder, which is 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they’re eligible for parole immediately under California law.
Gascón’s office said its resentencing recommendations took into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the brothers’ conduct in prison, saying they rehabilitated themselves and started programs to help other inmates.
In November, Gascón lost his reelection bid to Nathan Hochman, who in March filed a motion to withdraw the resentencing petition, calling the brothers’ claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.” The judge denied Hochman’s request.
The brothers, who appeared via video at Tuesday’s hearing, addressed the judge directly.
“I killed my mom and dad,” Lyle Menendez told the judge. “I give no excuses.”
He also admitted to committing perjury by lying in court in the ’90s. He apologized to his family for years of lies and the shock and grief of the crimes.
“I committed an atrocious act,” Erik Menendez told the judge. “My actions were criminal, selfish and cowardly. … No excuse.”
He admitted to lying for years and apologized.
What’s next — resentencing case
It could take months before Erik and Lyle Menendez are assigned a parole date for the resentencing case. They are eligible for that parole date right away, as inmates with a sentence of 25 years-to-life or longer can get their hearing during the 25th year of incarceration, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The brothers will likely each have their own individual hearings in front of a three-member parole board at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, the San Diego prison where they’re both housed, according to ABC News legal analyst Matt Murphy.
Murphy said the California Board of Parole’s newly completed risk assessment — which was conducted as a part of the brothers’ separate clemency path — does raise serious red flags that the parole board will take under consideration.
The risk assessment concluded that Erik and Lyle Menendez pose a moderate risk to the community if they’re released, noting that the brothers didn’t follow rules in prison so there’s a likelihood they won’t follow the law outside of prison.
The assessment revealed the brothers possessed illegal cellphones. Erik Menendez had a phone as recently as January of this year, which Hochman stressed was during the resentencing effort when he should have been on his best behavior.
“Cellphones are very dangerous in prison because they can be used to commit crime — they can be used to put hits on people, they can be used to intimidate witnesses,” Murphy explained.
For most prisoners, being caught with a cellphone is enough to be denied parole, Murphy said.
Erik Menendez also allegedly bought and traded drugs and allegedly helped inmates commit tax fraud years ago, according to the assessment.
“Simply because they’re eligible does not mean they’ll be released,” Murphy said. “A majority of life prisoners serving time for murder with parole dates are not released if they’ve had problems in prison.”
The parole board is also likely to weigh if the brothers have taken full responsibility, Murphy said.
The brothers admitted to the crime and admitted to lies in court Tuesday, and their family said they’ve “apologized to all of us” and “spent the last 35 years becoming better men worthy of a second chance.” But the DA insists that they’ve still “failed to come clean with the full extent of their criminal conduct, their cover-up, their lies and their deceit.”
The psychologists also found Lyle Menendez to be narcissistic. The brothers will undergo further psychological evaluations beyond the risk assessment, Murphy said.
If granted parole, they’d be eligible for release immediately after the decision is finalized, which takes about five months, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. If parole is denied, the denial could be for either three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years, according to the department.
What’s next — clemency case
In the meantime, the brothers have a special parole hearing on June 13 regarding their bid for clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. As they did Tuesday, the brothers are expected to appear via video from prison.
The clemency path is separate from the resentencing path. The brothers’ defense team submitted the request for clemency in October 2024 and Newsom can grant clemency at any time.
After the June 13 hearing, Newsom will “submit that report to the judge for the resentencing, and that will weigh into our independent analysis of whether or not to move forward with the clemency application to support a commutation of this case,” the governor said in March on his “This is Gavin Newsom” podcast.
The bigger picture
In an exclusive statement to ABC News hours after the resentencing decision, Erik Menendez said he hopes his case can serve as “one step on the path of widespread justice reform that will give us and so many hopeless souls in prison the continued hope to earn personal redemption.”
“My goal is to ensure there are no more people spending 35 years in prison without hope,” he said. “That possibility of having hope that rehabilitation works is more important than anything that happened to me today.”
The brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, agreed, saying their case “encourages people who are incarcerated to make the right decisions, to take the right path.”
But Murphy said he’s concerned the brothers’ win on Tuesday shows the success of victim-blaming.
The brothers have “continued to insist that they believe that Kitty Menendez posed a threat of imminent death or great bodily harm to them, which was rejected by every single appellate court,” Murphy said. Now Murphy predicts “every lifer in the state of California is going to ask for their resentencing.”
(COLCHESTER, Vt.) — A federal judge in Vermont ordered the release Wednesday of Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student who was arrested two weeks ago by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents following his citizenship interview, while his case proceeds.
“The two weeks of detention so far demonstrate great harm to a person who has been charged with no crime,” U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said at a hearing Wednesday. “Mr. Mahdawi, I will order you released.”
Mahdawi, addressing supporters outside the courthouse following his release, called the judge’s decision “a light of hope.”
“Judge Crawford, who ruled to release me against all of the heinous accusations, horrible attacks, chills of speech, First Amendment violations — he had made a very brave decision to let me out,” Mahdawi said. “And this is what justice is. And for anybody who’s doubting justice, this is a light of hope, a hope and faith in the justice system in America.”
“To President Trump and his cabinet: I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said.
Saying that Mahdawi presents no flight risk, Judge Crawford said Mahdawi should remain in Vermont, where he has a home, and attend school remotely — but said Mahdawi can travel to New York City to meet with his lawyers and go to his university.
Mahdawi, who co-founded a university organization called the Palestinian Student Union with detained Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank before moving in 2014 to the U.S., where he has been a legal resident for the last 10 years.
Mahdawi, who is expected to graduate from Columbia next month, was arrested at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Vermont, where he was taking his last step in the process to become a U.S. citizen.
Judge Crawford noted at Wednesday’s hearing that Mahdawi received letters of support from over 90 community members, including members of the Jewish community, “who have in a consistent pattern described him as peaceful.”
His lawyers believe that, like Khalil, he is being targeted by the Trump administration under Immigration and Nationality Act section 237(a)(4)(C)(i), which assert that the secretary of state can deem a person deportable if they have reasonable ground to believe that the person’s presence or activities in the U.S. could have adverse foreign policy consequences.
At Columbia, Mahdawi was an “outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and an activist and organizer in student protests on Columbia’s campus until March of 2024, after which he took a step back and has not been involved in organizing,” according to a habeas petition obtained by ABC News.
“He’s being detained based solely on his First Amendment rights — his speech,” Luni Droubi, one of Mahdawi’s attorneys, previously told ABC News. “That’s a violation of the law, that’s a violation of the Constitution, and he should be released immediately as a result of the detention.”
“I think Mr. Mahdawi has made substantial claims that his detention was in retaliation for his protected speech,” Judge Crawford said Wednesday.
