Orders to fix heat in NYC jail where inmate died didn’t go through for days
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Court papers show that orders to fix excessive heat in a New York City jail where a mentally ill inmate died in a hot cell didn’t go through in enough time to save him.
The disclosure was made in a Feb. 27 email by a court-appointed monitor and filed last month by The Legal Aid Society in an ongoing federal lawsuit over heat conditions in jails.
The email says two work orders for “too much heat” were created Feb. 14, a Friday. It says maintenance staff didn’t receive them until Feb. 18, a Tuesday, because they don’t receive orders over the weekend.
The email says 56-year-old Jerome Murdough was found unresponsive at early Feb. 15. It says his internal temperature was 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.44 Celsius).
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