The family of Ameek Nixson is searching for answers about his death on Oct. 24, 2024, after an altercation at Fishkill Correctional Facility.

“I’ve been messed up in the mind ever since,” said Nixson’s mother, Laurie Willis. “I miss my son. I can’t even hear his voice.”

Nixson’s mother is determined to see the process through which she believes starts with getting a better look at the Orange County medical examiner’s full report.

Nixson was serving time at the facility in Dutchess County for dealing drugs.

“He only had five years,” Willis said. “It wasn’t like he was in there for life.”

According to a petition filed by Nixson’s family in state Supreme Court in Orange County this week, the 39-year-old died at Montefiore St. Luke’s Hospital in Newburgh hours after an inmate altercation involving Nixson was “violently broken up” by correction officers. 

“My son was dead at 7:43 p.m.,” Willis said. “I never knew it until the next day when they called me at 2:06 a.m.”

The filing suggests witnesses reported that during the ordeal, correction officers “slammed” Nixson to the ground, held him down and kneed him in the head.

“We’ve heard from the state police the cameras didn’t work. The cameras on the walls, they need to have them up,” Willis said. “They need to have bright lights in there to let them know what’s going on in these prisons.”

That investigation, which is now closed, did not determine what led to Nixson going into cardiac arrest or his eventual death — but the Orange County medical examiner’s office ruled it a homicide and its autopsy found cardiovascular disease.

“We can no longer sit back like hostages with our heads buried in the sand,” said Nixson’s cousin, Tyronne Murphy.

The medical examiner’s office has not released anything beyond a written report on the autopsy. Nixson’s family has been told it’s per policy but their petition argues the release of additional information like photos and tissue samples would help an independent pathologist determine the circumstances surrounding his death.

“We cannot allow prisoners to be brutalized and murdered,” Murphy said.

The Nixson family is expecting to hear from the court later this month. In the meantime, Willis’ anxiousness grows.

“I’m not acting like my son was some angel. He wasn’t,” she said. “He did time before, but he came home.”