Mayor: Death of NYC inmate in hot cell 'shocking'
NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling the death of a mentally ill veteran in an overheated jail cell "shocking and troubling."
Speaking at a bill signing Thursday, De Blasio told reporters he didn't know how Jerome Murdough's (muhr-DOH') death could have happened.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the 56-year-old homeless man was found dead last month in a cell that was at least 100 degrees in a unit for inmates with mental illnesses at Rikers Island.
Four officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity say Murdough apparently didn't open a vent to let in cool air and was on anti-psychotic medication that may have made him more sensitive to heat.
The Department of Correction is investigating the death and has acknowledged the temperature in Murdough's cell was "unusually high."
