NYC inmate 'baked to death' in jail cell, city officials say

[Origanalist]

Published March 19, 2014Associated Press

http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./Jerome-Murdough.jpg

NEW YORK – Jerome Murdough was just looking for a warm place to sleep on a chilly night last month when he curled up in an enclosed stairwell on the roof of a Harlem public housing project where he was arrested for trespassing.

A week later, the mentally ill homeless man was found dead in a Rikers Island jail cell that four city officials say had overheated to at least 100 degrees, apparently because of malfunctioning equipment.

The officials told The Associated Press that the 56-year-old former Marine was on anti-psychotic and anti-seizure medication, which may have made him more vulnerable to heat. He also apparently did not open a small vent in his cell, as other inmates did, to let in cool air.

"He basically baked to death," said one of the officials, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to discuss specifics of the case.

The medical examiner's office said an autopsy was inconclusive and that more tests were needed to determine Murdough's exact cause of death. But the officials, all with detailed knowledge of the case, say initial indications from the autopsy and investigation point to extreme dehydration or heat stroke.

Advocates for mentally ill inmates in New York say the death represents the failure of the city's justice system on almost every level: by arresting Murdough instead of finding him help, by setting bail at a prohibitive $2,500 and by not supervising him closely in what is supposed to be a special observation unit for inmates with mental illnesses.

Department of Correction spokesman Robin Campbell said in a statement that an internal investigation will look into all circumstances of Murdough's death, "including issues of staff performance and the adequacy of procedures."

Campbell acknowledged that the temperature in Murdough's cell was "unusually high" and that action has been taken to fix mechanical problems to ensure safe temperatures, "particularly in areas housing vulnerable inmates."

Murdough's 75-year-old mother, Alma Murdough, said she did not learn of her son's death until the AP contacted her last week, nearly a month after he died. His public defender was told of the death three days after the inmate was found, the DOC said.

continued...http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/19/nyc-inmate-baked-to-death-in-jail-cell-city-officials-say/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fnational+%28Interna l+-+US+Latest+-+Text%29

[aGameOfThrones]

The officials told The Associated Press that the 56-year-old former Marine was on anti-psychotic and anti-seizure medication, which may have made him more vulnerable to heat. He also apparently did not open a small vent in his cell, as other inmates did, to let in cool air.

He did it to himself

[Snew]

:( R.I.P.

This is the type of stuff you'd expect in a "third-world" country... welcome to America, year 2014.

[acptulsa]

NEW YORK – Jerome Murdough was just looking for a warm place to sleep on a chilly night...

Be careful what you wish for in Manhattan. The NYPD--otherwise known as New York's Psychopathic Dicks--might just see you get it.

[phill4paul]

UPDATE: No one fired, no one charged. Except tax payers. They were charged $2.25 million.


The family of a homeless veteran who died this year in a searing hot cell at the Rikers Island jail complex will receive $2.25 million from the City of New York in a settlement the comptroller’s office announced on Friday.

The settlement was made final with unusual swiftness, a reflection of the heightened interest in the case and the extraordinary pressure on the city to improve conditions at Rikers, where brutality and corruption have flourished unchecked for years.

The inmate, Jerome Murdough, died on Feb. 15, when the temperature in his cell in a mental health unit at Rikers exceeded 100 degrees. The case has come to exemplify the many shortcomings of the city jails and the criminal justice system at large.

“What seems clear is that Rikers Island is broken,” Scott M. Stringer, the comptroller, said at a news conference on Friday. “A mother lost a son. A city lost a citizen. As friends and family mourn Mr. Murdough’s death, we will continue to work and demand improved conditions at Rikers.”

Mr. Murdough, 56, was arrested a week before his death when a police officer found him in the stairwell of a public housing building in Harlem. He told the officer he had sought shelter there from the cold. He was charged with trespassing in the second degree, a misdemeanor. A judge set his bail at $2,500, which he could not pay.

He was put in a cell at Rikers, in a unit reserved for inmates with mental illness. Because of broken heating equipment, temperatures on his cellblock had been unusually hot for days. Though staff members and inmates complained, nothing was done to fix the problem.

Mr. Murdough died seven days after his arrival at Rikers, after officials said he was left unattended for hours. The city medical examiner’s office, which ruled his death accidental, said he died of hyperthermia caused by exposure to the heat, which had interacted adversely with antipsychotic medicine he was taking for schizoaffective disorder.

In May, Mr. Murdough’s family announced that it intended to file a wrongful-death suit against the city seeking $25 million. Alma Murdough, his mother, was not even told of her son’s death until weeks later, when a reporter from The Associated Press investigating the case informed her.

At the news conference on Friday, Ms. Murdough looked frail and spoke only briefly. “This is a very awful thing I’m going through, and I hope that no one else will have to ever go through anything like this,” she said.

A spokesman for the Correction Department said in an emailed statement, “The safety of inmates and staff is our top priority, and we have taken action to ensure that a similar tragedy does not happen again.”

This was the second time that Mr. Stringer, who took office in January, negotiated a multimillion-dollar settlement before a lawsuit was filed — essentially cutting the Law Department from the process.

In February, Mr. Stringer agreed to pay $6.4 million to David Ranta, who was imprisoned for 23 years after being framed by a rogue detective.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/01/nyregion/settlement-for-family-of-rikers-inmate-who-died-in-overheated-cell.html?_r=0

[Spikender]

UPDATE: No one fired, no one charged. Except tax payers. They were charged $2.25 million.

This has always been the advantage of the system they've set up: commit atrocities and no can be held accountable.

It's beautiful in its perversion.

[Suzanimal]

UPDATE: No one fired, no one charged. Except tax payers. They were charged $2.25 million.

Just disgusting...


Mr. Murdough, 56, was arrested a week before his death when a police officer found him in the stairwell of a public housing building in Harlem. He told the officer he had sought shelter there from the cold. He was charged with trespassing in the second degree, a misdemeanor. A judge set his bail at $2,500, which he could not pay.

Of course the asshole cop couldn't just take him to a homeless shelter.:mad:


A spokesman for the Correction Department said in an emailed statement, “The safety of inmates and staff is our top priority, and we have taken action to ensure that a similar tragedy does not happen again.”

http://i.imgur.com/HiC7NTB.png?1

[kpitcher]

We can have temp controlled cargo containers for dollar store items crossing the ocean but can't figure out how to keep people alive in jail? At least a temperature gauge for every cell with warnings of hi's and low's. I bet for less than 2 million I could figure that problem out...

[enhanced_deficit]

This headline could have got more attention.

US Marine , possibly suffering from PTSD, 'baked to death' in jail cell, city officials say (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?447189-NYC-inmate-baked-to-death-in-jail-cell-city-officials-say&)

[Cissy]

So he served for this country, being told he was protecting "our freedoms", and died at the hands of bureaucratic tyrants who refused to see to basic human needs?

I wouldn't be surprised if the small vent in his cell was later to be found tampered with, to prevent him from opening it, especially given their failure to "monitor" him.

"He---uhhhh---apparently did not open the small vent. Yeah. That's it."

[enhanced_deficit]

So he served for this country, being told he was protecting "our freedoms", and died at the hands of bureaucratic tyrants who refused to see to basic human needs?


I was also disappointed to not see mention of protecting "our freedoms" in original proof of news text.

[Anti Federalist]

where brutality and corruption have flourished unchecked for years

where brutality and corruption have flourished unchecked for years

where brutality and corruption have flourished unchecked for years

[KCIndy]

oops. dupe post.

[KCIndy]

We can have temp controlled cargo containers for dollar store items crossing the ocean but can't figure out how to keep people alive in jail? At least a temperature gauge for every cell with warnings of hi's and low's. I bet for less than 2 million I could figure that problem out...

You've touched on the problem right there. As long as the taxpayers are the ones on the hook for the multi-million dollar settlement, the cops have no incentive to make any changes. The only way we'll see any meaningful reform is when (fat chance, I know!) the cops or "corrections" officers are held directly liable for atrocities such as this.

[phill4paul]

You've touched on the problem right there. As long as the taxpayers are the ones on the hook for the multi-million dollar settlement, the cops have no incentive to make any changes. The only way we'll see any meaningful reform is when (fat chance, I know!) the cops or "corrections" officers are held directly liable for atrocities such as this.

After figuring in the budget for goalers pension there just wasn't enough left over for heating and cooling.

[Anti Federalist]

After figuring in the budget for goalers pension there just wasn't enough left over for heating and cooling.

More and more I'm coming to your way of thinking on this.

Go down swinging, rather than the risk you take getting thrown into the murder/rape cage.

[phill4paul]

More and more I'm coming to your way of thinking on this.

Go down swinging, rather than the risk you take getting thrown into the murder/rape cage.

Hey, brother, my views are but mine. It is not my intended goal to solicit others to follow suit. My situation is somewhat different as I do not have a wife and children that I must constantly consider the ramifications for how I should act. THAT is a situation in which I would not care to be in given my views. Would I bear twenty years of potential abuse, rape or a chance at worse so that I might be with them again? That would be a tough choice. But then I might consider whether I might be the same man after enduring such and bring negativity and heartache? I dunno. There has never been an easy answer in this world. There are none now.

[Anti Federalist]

Hey, brother, my views are but mine. It is not my intended goal to solicit others to follow suit.

A self evident truth is self evident.

[Mani]

Wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot more deaths in Rikers...That place is a modern day hell hole. Even the mayor says it's a pile of shit:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-mayor-bill-de-blasio-criticizes-rikers-island-prison-1411486824



From another thread, this is the guy that served in rikers for 3 years for being FALSELY accused of stealing a backpack.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/law-3

[Occam's Banana]

Wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot more deaths in Rikers...That place is a modern day hell hole. Even the mayor says it's a pile of shit:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-mayor-bill-de-blasio-criticizes-rikers-island-prison-1411486824

From another thread, this is the guy that served in rikers for 3 years for being FALSELY accused of stealing a backpack.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/law-3

Rikers Island - one of the crown jewels of the American Gulag ...