Nevada prosecutors have charged 20 individuals in connection with a brawl at a maximum-security prison in eastern Nevada last year, which resulted in the deaths of three inmates and injuries to others.
The Nevada Attorney General’s Office announced Tuesday that the final arrest in the investigation was made on March 5.
Inmates Anthony Williams, 41, Connor Brown, 22, and Zacharia Luz, 42, were killed in the July 30 fight at Ely State Prison. No officers were injured. Authorities state that the charges include first-degree murder and attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon, with intent to promote or assist a criminal gang. The specific number of defendants facing these charges is unclear.
Ely State Prison is one of six prisons in Nevada. It houses nearly 1,200 beds, the state’s death row for convicted murderers, and a lethal injection chamber that has never been used. Nevada has not carried out an execution since 2006.
Conditions within the state’s prisons have faced criticism from advocates, particularly during extreme temperatures. In December 2022, several incarcerated individuals at Ely State Prison participated in a hunger strike due to what advocates and family members described as unsafe conditions and insufficient food portions.
