Inmate testifies in strangulation case against cellmate at SCI Phoenix

An inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix told a Montgomery County jury Tuesday that he thought he was going to die when his cellmate allegedly attacked him without warning last fall.

Jason Joyce, 53, of Philadelphia, testified that on Oct. 30, 2024, he was sitting at the desk in his cell when fellow inmate Nathan David Blose, 41, of Coaldale, Schuylkill County, came up from behind and put him in a chokehold, according to a report from The Mercury.

“I tried to take a breath. There was none there,” Joyce said from the witness stand. “I was just trying to get out some words so I didn’t die.”

Joyce said he briefly lost consciousness and awoke to find Blose still choking him under the bunk, per the report. When Blose loosened his grip, Joyce testified, he pleaded, “Please don’t kill me,” to which Blose allegedly responded, “Shut the [expletive] up or I’ll break your neck," according to testimony.

Joyce told jurors that there had been no arguments or hostility between them in the 36 hours they had shared the cell. After the incident, he said, Blose ordered him to tell a correctional officer he was suicidal, but instead, Joyce reported the alleged assault to prison staff, according to the article.

Assistant District Attorney Robert George told jurors the attack was “sudden” and “unprovoked,” and that Joyce was “begging and pleading for his safety” before passing out.

Defense attorney Scott Frame countered that the case is built on “inconsistent statements” from Joyce and claimed it was a “mutual fight” between the two inmates, per the article.

Joyce was serving a two-to-four-year sentence for probation violations linked to multiple retail theft convictions at the time. Medical staff documented injuries including a neck contusion and broken blood vessels in his eyes, according to court records.

Blose is on trial for strangulation and simple assault in the incident. At the time, he was serving a five-to-10-year sentence for gun offenses in Schuylkill County.

Two days after the alleged assault on Joyce, Blose’s next cellmate, 45-year-old Shaun Harden, was found dead in their cell. Blose is separately charged with first- and third-degree murder in that case, which will be tried later this year. 

Prosecutors allege Harden suffered multiple injuries to his neck, chest and back during the overnight hours of Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, 2024.

The trial before Judge Thomas M. DelRicci is expected to conclude this week.

Read more on the trial here.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.