14th NYC Jail Inmate Dies This Year Amid Lockup Crisis

New York City NY

19 October, 2021

4:10 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — A man who tried to take his own life in a Manhattan holding cell became the 14th inmate who died in the city's jail system this year, according to his lawyers and reports. Anthony Scott, 58, was taken off life support Monday following his suicide attempt last week, the New York Times first reported. Scott's death comes amid an ongoing crisis in the city's jail, especially Rikers Island. He had tapped Legal Aid Society attorneys to represent him in the past. Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of Legal Aid's criminal defense practice, said the Department of Correction and NYPD have "consistently failed in their legal and moral obligations to keep our clients safe." "Throughout his life, Mr. Scott was continually criminalized for his struggle with mental illness, and our criminal legal system has never had the comprehensive tools necessary to serve New Yorkers with acute needs like Mr. Scott," she said in a statement. Federal monitors last week released a damning update on the city's jails. More inmates died of suicide in 2021 than the last five years combined, they wrote.