Twenty charged in killings of 3 inmates at Nevada prison
Twenty people have been charged with murder in the 2024 killings of three inmates at a Nevada prison, according to the attorney general’s office.
Attorney General Aaron Ford said that on March 5 his office made its final arrest against those charged in the slayings and those charged with injuring at least five others at Ely State Prison during a fight on July 30.
The defendants have been charged with multiple counts, including three counts of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon with intent to promote or assist a criminal gang and five counts of attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon with intent to promote or assist a criminal gang, Ford’s office said in a news release.
“The pursuit of justice does not stop at the prison gates, and those responsible for the deaths of the three inmates at Ely State Prison will be held accountable,” Ford said in the release. “We remain committed to ensuring that violence and misconduct within our state correctional system are met with the full force of the law.”
Zackaria Luz, 43, Anthony Williams, 41, and Connor Brown, 22, were identified as the inmates killed.
With the three inmates who died, nine inmates were hospitalized with wounds suffered in the fight, including several who were flown out of Ely to be treated, the White Pine County Sheriff’s Office said at the time.
Luz was serving seven to 18 years for racketeering. He went into the state prison system after being sentenced in Clark County on Oct. 5, 2023.
Williams had agreed to a life sentence without the possibility of parole rather than face the death penalty for his role in the death of Andrew Thurgood, a fellow inmate at High Desert State Prison, in February 2016.
Brown, 22, was serving seven to 20 years for robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, with a deadly weapon enhancement. He came to the Department of Corrections on May 13, 2021, and was sentenced out of Washoe County.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
