Kalief Browder was just 16 years old when he was charged as an adult on suspicion of stealing a backpack and was forced to spend two out of the three years in jail in solitary confinement on New York’s Rikers Island, according to the LA Times.
Browder reportedly committed suicide on Saturday at the age of 22, shedding light on the outrage brought on by the alleged mistreatment Browder was forced to deal with, both by the criminal justice system and Rikers Island Jail.
“I think what caused the suicide was his incarceration and those hundreds and hundreds of nights in solitary confinement, where there were mice crawling up his sheets in that little cell,” Browder’s attorney, Paul V. Prestia stated in a phone interview.
“Being starved, and not being taken to the shower for two weeks at a time, those were direct contributing factors. That was the pain and sadness that he had to deal with every day, and I think it was too much for him.”
Kalief Browder was sent to Rikers Island as a teenager without a trial or conviction, according to the Washington Post. He was reportedly given a choice to admit to a crime he didn’t commit and leave prison after spending three years there, or maintain his innocence and potentially spend 15 years behind bars.
Browder’s case reportedly never went to trial and the charges were eventually dismissed. Browder reportedly left prison in May 2013.
After news of Browder’s case began circulating, New York City Mayor Dill de Blasio reportedly announced a plan to speed up the city’s court systems to prevent other inmates from waiting endlessly without trial.
“There is no reason he should have gone through this ordeal, and his tragic death is a reminder that we must continue to work each day to provide the mental health services so many New Yorkers need,” De Blasio said in a statement.
“On behalf of all new Yorkers, we send our condolences to the Browder family during this difficult time,”
Browder reportedly got his GED, but struggled to finish his first semester at Bronx Community College. He was reportedly hospitalized in a mental health facility, but later returned to college, finishing the semester with high grades, according to Prestia.
Browder reportedly had a job at the community college tutoring GED students as well.
“He was an intelligent and humble young man who had his childhood cut short by New York City’s criminal justice system, when he was unjustly arrested at the age of sixteen and locked in jail for three years,” Browder’s family said in a statement.
“After fighting so hard to get out of jail — and then fighting on the outside to restart his life — he ultimately was unable to overcome his own pain and torment which emanated from his experiences in solitary confinement.”
