Lonnie Hamilton III
Lonnie Hamilton III was 22, and his father called him "my best friend" and "my shadow"; he grew up between the Bronx and Georgia, played football, went to church with his grandmother, and watched the Knicks and Giants with his father. He was held at Marcy Correctional Facility in New York, where staff found him hanging in his cell on March 18, 2016, and he was pronounced dead at a hospital. Prison officials said he took his own life, and an independent autopsy commissioned by his family also found suicide. His family says records obtained later show concerns about his mental health, that his father was never notified by letter and learned of the death from a state website, and that he was buried on prison grounds before they knew of it. According to court documents, a Court of Claims judge found the state liable for negligent supervision after his suicide watch was lifted two days before he died.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). Marcy Correctional Facility's deputy superintendent and an independent family-commissioned autopsy both say he hanged himself, but his family says he was never notified and a court found the state liable for negligent supervision after he was taken off suicide watch two days before his death.
Reported by: Marcy Correctional Facility Deputy Superintendent Mark Kinderman (the agency that held him); independent autopsy commissioned by the family; his father; Court of Claims judge's decision (court).
Lawsuit: His family sued the State of New York in the Court of Claims, and the court found the state liable for negligent supervision and awarded damages, though no amount is reported.