Christi Buoncristiano
Christi Buoncristiano, 45, was a mother and grandmother; her daughter, Nicolette, said the family has been devastated and that her children will grow up without her. Christi died on July 22, 2021, after falling from a second-floor tier at a Philadelphia jail, and the Philadelphia Department of Prisons reported the manner of death to state authorities as suicide. Nicolette's lawsuit says Christi waited two days for withdrawal medication and did not receive it before her death. The Inquirer reported that her death came in the same week as other deaths and injuries that people held at the city jails linked to staffing shortages and unsafe conditions.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). The Philadelphia Department of Prisons and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency list the death as suicide, but her daughter's lawsuit says she jumped from a second-floor tier after waiting two days for withdrawal medication that never came.
Reported by: Philadelphia Department of Prisons (the agency that held her); Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (outside investigators); her daughter Nicolette, in a lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Her daughter, Nicolette, sued over her death at the Detention Center, alleging she waited two days for withdrawal medication and did not receive it; no settlement or award amount is reported.