A man shot by NYPD 20 times now faces charges in 2 homicides

Officers shot Messiah Nantwi more than 20 times after he allegedly resisted arrest and fired his gun at police in February 2021.

But he survived — and is now accused of murdering two men in Harlem last weekend.

This week, a Manhattan Criminal Court judge ordered Nantwi held without bail in connection to the shooting deaths of Jaylen Duncan, 19, and Brandon Brunson, 36. Families of his two alleged victims asked how a man accused of attempted murder of police officers could have been allowed back out on the streets. A trial in the 2021 case is still pending.

But 8 miles north of the courthouse, at an East Harlem apartment shared by Nantwi and his father Patterson Nantwi, the elder Nantwi spoke about his son, who had been suffering from serious paranoia for the past two years and had not been able to get consistent help.

“He was constantly looking around, behind his shoulders,” Patterson said. “You could see it, it was pretty evident.”

Nantwi was already well known to the NYPD and to the public even before police released grainy images of him standing over a dead body this week.

A young Messiah Nantwi. Nantwi physically recovered from his 2021 injuries, but his father said that his mental state was tenuous. “He was constantly looking around, behind his shoulders.”

In February 2021, police spotted Nantwi, then 18 years old, on the corner of Elton Avenue and East 153rd Street in the Bronx, holding a spray can. As the three officers approached to arrest him, he resisted, pulling out a .22 caliber pistol and firing three shots, according to the Bronx district attorney’s office.

The unharmed officers fired back, striking Nantwi more than 20 times. His vital organs were somehow spared, but he was taken to Lincoln Hospital with serious injuries to his left leg and hands, according to his father Patterson. He was later transferred to Bellevue, where he stayed for about two months before moving to a six-week outpatient rehab program.

This week, Nantwi was arrested on a Citi bike near 115th Street and Lenox Avenue. Detectives were able to identify him from surveillance video related to the Saturday murder of Duncan on Madison Avenue and East 132nd Street, and the Easter Sunday murder of Brunson at a smoke shop on Lenox Avenue. The shootings took place less than a mile apart.

The two years since Nantwi was shot by police were an “ordeal,” Patterson said.

While Nantwi physically recovered from his 2021 injuries, his mental state was tenuous. He took some online classes at Bard College and attended therapy at Bellevue for a time, but Patterson said it was sporadic and mostly by phone.

“I couldn’t imagine what it’s like to be shot 27 times. And it’s not a bunch of grazes, I mean, he got hit twice in the face, seven times in the back,” Patterson said. “So it’s serious wounds. I can’t speak for what he was going through.”

Nantwi was also going back and forth to court for charges relating to the cop shootout, where he was indicted for attempted murder. He was initially held without bail, but after his indictment — and over the objections of the Bronx DA — Judge David Lewis set bail at $500,000.

After applications from Nantwi’s lawyer Anthony Ricco, bail was later lowered to $300,000 cash or 10% bond. Again, objections from the Bronx DA were overruled. Donations from family friends reached the necessary $30,000 threshold and Nantwi was released from custody in the summer of 2021.

In a Facebook post from March of 2021, a family member asked for donations to a GoFundMe page to help Nantwi make bail. Patterson confirmed those donations helped to reach the necessary $30,000 threshold. The GoFundMe page has since been deleted.

In the summer of 2021, Nantwi was released from custody. He attended all of his court dates, according to his father and the Bronx DA. His next appearance was scheduled for April 21st.

Neither Anthony Ricco nor Mitchell Schuman, Nantwi’s lawyer in the Manhattan case, could be immediately reached for comment.

“All of these families could have been saved some anguish had he not been allowed back on the street,” said Portia Evans, the older sister of recent victim Brandon Brunson.

Brunson, who lived in Brooklyn, was on a quick break from his job at the nearby Mount Morris Plaza Senior Housing center when he encountered Nantwi at the Lenox Avenue smoke shop on Sunday.

“Unfortunately with the younger generation, every little thing could be an offense. I have no idea what could have been said, and I don’t think they knew each other, but I could be wrong,” Evans said.

Surveillance video shows Brunson and Nantwi inside the store with several other people. After they appear to exchange some words, the interaction turns deadly, with Nantwi pulling out a gun and shooting Brunson in the neck as panicked bystanders flee.

As Brunson struggles to get up, Nantwi pulls out his gun and shoots him a second time. He then walks out the door, returning briefly to rifle through Brunson’s pockets.

Brunson loved to travel, watch movies, and visit his family down south, his relatives said. He leaves behind a 14-year-old daughter, who doesn’t live in New York and may not yet know the news about her dad, Evans said.

According to a statement made by prosecutors, Nantwi shot Saturday’s victim, Jaylen Duncan, at similarly close range — then blasted him several more times as he lay on the ground.

Members of Duncan’s family said they were too distraught to speak to a reporter on Thursday.

Brunson’s sister said she hopes the justice system will be harsher on Nantwi this time around.

“He intended to kill my brother,” Evans said. “He didn’t feel threatened, he wasn’t trying to defend himself. He shot him once, and then turned around and came back and shot him again.”

Patterson Nantwi declined to talk much about the current case, but said he will stand by his son.

“We’re gonna deal with this. I’m not gonna abandon him, you know?” he said. “I love him, I’m here for him, I’m praying for him and I’m praying for the families that have lost loved ones.”

The headline on this story has been updated.