Just 10 days after being taken off suicide watch, Aris Hiraldo was found hanging in his cell, and now nearly six years after his death, Hiraldo’s family will receive $380,000 from New York City.
The 24-year-old was sent to Rikers in December 2010 after being arraigned on charges he assaulted his girlfriend. After a medical exam, it was concluded Hiraldo suffered from mental health problems. On Jan. 19, 2011, he was then transported to the George R. Vierno Detention Center where he was placed on suicide watch and under medical observation.
Six days later on Jan. 26, after a one-on-one interview with a social worker Hiraldo was taken off suicide watch, but according to records he still showed signs of emotional instability. The morning he committed suicide, Hiraldo got into an argument with his girlfriend when he phoned and she said she wasn’t going to visit him that day, according to the City’s Board of Correction.
Hiraldo was found hanging in his cell at 10:25 in the morning after a guard removed a towel covering his cell. According to the New York Daily News, Hiraldo used the drawstring from his Nylon sweatpants. His family filed a lawsuit against the city and the Department of Correction for negligence.
Hiraldo leaves behind three children.