A mentally ill inmate appearing to have hung himself on New Years Day was supposed to be placed on suicide watch. The suicide watch was never implemented, city officials say.
Fabian Cruz, an inmate at the Rikers Island Jail, was seen by a jail psychiatrist on Wednesday. The psychologist ordered for Cruz to be transferred to a special observation unit where he would have been placed under ongoing watch.
According to officials, however, 35-year-old Cruz told the guard at the psychiatry clinic that he did not want to go and was therefore allowed to transfer back to his original jail cell.
Officials, who spoke on condition on anonymity, said that allowing Cruz to return to his cell was a violation of protocol, as inmates do not take part in deciding where they are housed.
Cruz was discovered deceased on Thursday evening and was pronounced dead by a jail doctor.
A corrections officer at the clinic has been placed on modified duty.
