Guard charged in inmate's hot jail cell death gets probation
Source: Associated Press
Guard charged in inmate's hot jail cell death gets probation
Michael Balsamo, Associated Press
Updated 6:56 pm, Wednesday, February 17, 2016
NEW YORK (AP) — A correction officer who prosecutors said skipped her rounds, leaving a mentally ill inmate to die in a stifling 101-degree jail cell, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to falsifying logbook entries to try to cover it up.
Carol Lackner pleaded guilty to a felony charge of falsifying business records in state Supreme Court in the Bronx and was sentenced to five years of probation. She falsely indicated that she had checked on Jerome Murdough, a homeless ex-Marine, and other inmates at the Rikers Island jail complex every half-hour on Feb. 14, 2014, even though video didn't show her doing so, prosecutors said.
The Associated Press first reported on the death of Murdough, who was left unchecked for at least four hours overnight as malfunctioning equipment caused his cell to overheat. A city official, speaking to the AP on the condition of anonymity, said Murdough "basically baked to death."
An investigation found Lackner had left her post about 20 minutes before the 56-year-old Murdough was found in a pool of his own blood and vomit in the Rikers unit for mentally ill inmates. Murdough, who suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, was on psychotropic drugs, which experts said can make a person more sensitive to heat. The medical examiner ruled his death an accident.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Guard-charged-in-NYC-inmate-s-hot-cell-death-gets-6837715.php
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