The death at the Skippack Township state prison occurred Aug. 4, authorities said.
An inmate at SCI Phoenix will head to trial in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on charges of first- and third-degree murder for allegedly beating an inmate to death at the Skippack Township state prison in August.
Magisterial District Judge Adam T. Katzman on Tuesday held all charges for county arraignment against Dwight Williams, 42, of South Carolina, who has convictions of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, per court records.
A formal arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 6 at 9:30 a.m.
Per The Reporter, the prosecution called two witnesses to testify against Williams, a correctional officer and a state trooper. There were no witnesses for the defense, per the report.
Authorities accuse Williams of beating to death a fellow inmate named Ashokkumar Guru, 67, in his cell the morning of Aug. 4, 2024.
A conviction of first-degree murder, an intentional killing, is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
Third-degree murder, which is considered a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
In a criminal complaint, Pennsylvania State Police and the Montgomery County District Attorney said the victim was found with blood on his face and on a nearby box, consistent with an attack.
Officers immediately began CPR, which was continued by arriving Plymouth Ambulance EMS personnel. Despite the lifesaving measures, Guru was pronounced dead at 10:24 a.m., according to authorities.
“Upon their arrival to the cell, it was apparent to (the paramedic) that the unresponsive individual had been beaten on the head where e observed blood around the victim’s head and bruising around the victim’s eyes and head,” stated the criminal complaint. “He observed a suspected shoe imprint on the victims’ face.”
Montgomery County Detectives and Pennsylvania State Police began a joint homicide investigation into Guru’s death. Detectives and troopers reviewed surveillance video and found that Guru’s cellmate was not in his cell at the time of the incident, police said.
At 9:12 a.m., Guru is seen leaving his cell to fill his water bottle across the cellblock and then returns straightaway. At 9:16 a.m., Williams can be seen entering Guru’s cell, then exiting at 9:25 a.m., police said.
At 9:29 a.m., Williams is seen entering his own cell, and a red substance can be seen on the bottom of his left sneaker, authorities allege. Williams leaves his cell a few minutes later holding a brown paper bag and tries to get another inmate to discard the bag immediately, but the cellblock had already been locked down, police said.
Investigators recovered the paper bag and found it contained a white Fila sneaker, according to authorities. The investigation also found that another inmate had allegedly witnessed the attack on Guru.
“He looked into the window of the victim’s cell while the cell door was closed and observed (the inmate) stomping on the victim’s chest,” states the complaint.
An autopsy was performed by Dr. Khalil Wardak, a forensic pathologist with the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
Wardak found the cause of death was blunt impact injuries and the manner of death was homicide.
According to court documents, Williams has two active cases in the Common Pleas level, including one for felony drug violations that occurred while incarcerated.
In May 2022, Williams was given two five- to 10-year prison sentences in Philadelphia court for felony charges of first-degree aggravated assault and carrying firearms without a license, as well as one to two years in prison on a misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge, per court documents.
He landed at SCI Phoenix in September 2022, per court records.
Authorities told PerkValleyNow that Guru was serving a life sentence for first degree murder on a Philadelphia County conviction. He arrived at SCI Phoenix on Dec. 22, 2021, according to authorities.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
