N.Y.C. Jail Deaths Climb to 14 as Detainee Is Taken Off Life Support
The New York Times
The man tried to hang himself in a holding pen in Manhattan Criminal Court after he was ordered held on a $15,000 cash bond in an assault case.
A Harlem man who had been hospitalized since trying to hang himself last week in a holding pen in Manhattan Criminal Court was taken off life support and died on Monday, becoming the 14th person to die in the custody of the New York City Department of Correction this year.
The man, Anthony Scott, 58, died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the latest in a string of deaths that have made 2021 the deadliest year in the city’s jail system since 2016.
The toll has climbed as the city’s correction system has struggled with converging crises — the coronavirus pandemic and rampant staff absenteeism — and has been unable to provide basic services. Amid that backdrop, there has also been an uptick in instances of self-harm among incarcerated people.
