March 2, 2025: A 22-year-old inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, New York, died under suspicious circumstances on March 2, 2025, prompting a State Police investigation. While prison officials have not released details, nine inmates alleged that the prisoner was viciously beaten by corrections officers before his death.
This incident follows the December 2024 death of another inmate at a nearby prison, where ten officers were charged—six with murder—after body cameras captured them beating and choking a prisoner.
The New York Attorney General’s Office and state corrections officials are conducting a preliminary assessment. Meanwhile, the state’s prison system is in crisis, with thousands of corrections officers on an unauthorized strike protesting poor working conditions. Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed the National Guard to replace striking officers, though inmates claim Guard members witnessed the alleged beating without intervening.
Prisoner accounts suggest the victim was experiencing mental health distress, had stopped taking psychiatric medication, and was confronted by guards before being restrained, beaten, and later dragged away with visible injuries. Some witnesses claim officers turned off body cameras, and prisoners were later ordered to clean up the blood.
This marks the fifth inmate death in New York’s prisons since the strikes began in February, raising serious concerns about safety, oversight, and accountability within the system.
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If you or a loved one have experienced mistreatment, abuse in a prison, you may have a legal claim, contact the attorneys at Sauder Schelkopf.