NEW YORK – A New York City official says a settlement of more than $2 million has been reached with the family of a mentally ill, homeless former Marine who died in a 38-Celsius (101-degree) jail cell.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer made the announcement Friday.
READ MORE: Mentally ill homeless veteran ‘essentially baked to death’ in overheated jail, says NYC official
Fifty-six-year-old Jerome Murdough died in a mental observation unit about a week after he was sent to Rikers Island jail on a trespassing arrest.
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 (39.5 Celsius).
Prosecutors are investigating Murdough’s death.
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