UPDATE: Serge Duthely's Death in NYPD Custody Ruled 'Suicide'

Photo via Serge Starr Duthely/Facebook

UPDATE, Feb. 3: The NYC Medical Examiner has ruled Serge Duthely’s death a suicide. “The cause of death is hanging, and the manner of death is suicide,” Julie Bolcer, a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner, told Patch. Bolcer explained that in general, suicide rulings take into account a wide range of factors, including ”the medical history and social history of the person, evidence at the scene and an examination of the decedent.”

Original story below.

CANARSIE, BROOKLYN — Canarsie resident Serge Duthely, a 28-year-old father to two young girls, died mysteriously in police custody late Sunday afternoon, leaving his friends and family stunned and confused.

Duthely’s friends and family said via various social-media channels that they were struggling to understand how and why Duthely died Sunday. One female relative wrote that his 1- and 2-year-old daughters were ”obsessed with their father. Now they have to grow up without him.”

The NYPD’s narrative is that Duthely was found “unconscious and unresponsive” around 5:30 p.m. Sunday evening inside the “cell area” of the 69th Precinct station house, where he was being held on suspicion of drunk driving.

Duthely was arrested after crashing his car Sunday afternoon on Avenue J near Remsen Avenue, police said.

“Upon arrival, responding officers determined that one of the drivers, a 28-year-old male, was intoxicated,” the NYPD said in a statement sent to Patch. “The officers placed the suspect under arrest and transported him to the Intoxicated Driver Testing Unit located at the 78 Precinct. After testing, the suspect was then transported to the 69 Precinct station house for processing.”

Duthely’s death in police custody is now under internal investigation by the NYPD. The NYC Medical Examiner will determine his official cause of death.

The New York Daily News, citing police sources, reported Duthely was found “hanging by his T-shirt inside the holding cell of a Brooklyn police precinct.” The New York Times published a similar report. However, the NYPD would not confirm this information to Patch.

Did you know Serge Duthely, or do you have any information about what happened to him? Reach out: simone.wilson@patch.com.

Note: This post has been updated to exclude quotes and photos posted to social media by Duthely’s extended family members, as they were uncomfortable with the material being shared so widely.