Tuesday, July 22, 2025
57.0°F

$2 million deal reached in hot jail cell death

The Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 8 months AGO
by The Associated Press
| October 31, 2014 8:30 PM

NEW YORK (AP) — The city on Friday reached a $2.25 million settlement with the mother of a mentally ill, homeless former U.S. Marine who died earlier this year in a 101-degree jail cell, the comptroller said.

Jerome Murdough, 56, died in a mental observation unit on Rikers Island jail. Officials said he wasn’t checked on for at least four hours. He was found slumped at the foot of his bed with a pool of vomit and blood on the floor on Feb. 15 with an internal body temperature of 103 degrees.

His mother, Alma, filed initial papers to sue the city for $25 million over her son’s death.

“Following a thorough review of the claim and facts of this case, my office has reached a settlement with the estate of Jerome Murdough,” City Comptroller Scott Stringer said. “A mother lost a son, the city lost a citizen. It is my hope that this settlement provides some small measure of closure for the family of Mr. Murdough.  The expedited resolution of this case is in the best interest of all parties.”

The Associated Press was first to report on suspicions of Murdough’s death. He died a week after he was sent to Rikers on a misdemeanor trespassing arrest after being unable to pay $2,500 bail. An official, speaking to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t permitted to discuss the case, said at the time Murdough “basically baked to death.”

He had suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to his family, and was on psychotropic drugs that experts say make people on them more sensitive to heat.

The medical examiner ruled the death was caused by hyperthermia due to environmental exposure to heat. His medication also played a role. The death was ruled accidental.

Murdough’s death and the death of another mentally ill inmate who died after sexually mutilating himself while locked alone for seven days in a Rikers cell last fall have prompted calls for jail reform. City Council hearings were convened to examine violent conditions at the jail complex and treatment of mentally ill inmates.

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

Mayor: Inmate's death in hot cell is troubling
Daily Inter-Lake | Updated 11 years, 4 months ago
Funeral held for NYC inmate who died in hot cell
Daily Inter-Lake | Updated 11 years, 2 months ago
Mentally ill ... and behind bars
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 11 years ago

ARTICLES BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

September 9, 2021 12:03 a.m.

The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overland

WASHINGTON — The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.

September 8, 2021 12:03 a.m.

The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overland

WASHINGTON — The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.

September 8, 2021 12:03 a.m.

The Latest: Top Republican says Taliban holding Americans

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee says some Americans who have been trying to get out of Afghanistan since the U.S. military left are sitting in airplanes at an airport ready to leave but the Taliban are not letting them take off.