The family of a New York City autistic man is blaming corrections officers at a Manhattan criminal court for his successful suicide attempt while in custody.
Anthony Scott, 58, died Tuesday in intensive care, nearly a week after he strangled himself at a holding cell using a shoestring, with four officers nearby.
“Anthony Shabazz Scott was a son, a brother, a father, a friend, and a grandfather,” the decedent’s family said.
“He was kind, he was generous, he was funny, and he was resilient. He was resilient because he navigated a difficult life with limited support as an African American man with disabilities.”
Scott was arrested last Thursday over the assault of a nurse. He was found unresponsive inside the holding cell a few hours later.
“No one should be in the care of the Department of Corrections if they cannot keep people safe,” the family’s attorney said.
“No prosecutor should be asking bail, no judge should be setting bail. No one, no one in our City should be subjected to this level of neglect.”
