Mentally Ill NJ Inmate Hung Himself While In Straitjacket: Family

NEWARK, NJ — Lucas Vieira died wearing a straitjacket, his family says.

On Wednesday, the brother of an East Newark man who hung himself in August 2018 while imprisoned at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark filed a lawsuit against the county, the former warden, Charles Green, and the corporate healthcare provider at the jail, CFG Health Systems.

At the heart of the lawsuit was a larger accusation: prisons across New Jersey are “miserably failing” their mentally ill inmates.

According to the complaint, Vieira, 41, was jailed in August 2018 after having completed a week-long rehabilitation treatment program for allegedly violating a prior sentence of parole. That’s when it first should have become clear that he had mental health issues, his family said.

Their attorneys, Hach Rose Schirripa & Cheverie, LLP, shared the following background about the events leading to Vieira’s death.

“On August 25, while still in custody, Mr. Vieira required medical treatment. At first, a healthcare professional at the hospital allegedly failed to properly screen Mr. Vieira, which required him to be moved into the medical unit of the jail later that day. After receiving treatment in that unit, a healthcare professional put Mr. Vieira in a straitjacket and put him on ‘suicide watch.’ Mr. Vieira should have been labeled an ‘acute risk’ and should have received continuous supervision. However, the jail officials who were tasked with checking in on Mr. Vieira while he was on suicide watch allegedly failed to provide him with additional mental health treatment and failed to treat his suicidal tendencies. Mr. Vieira was in such poor physical and mental health that only two days later, on August 27, he was unable to appear in court for a hearing because jail officials deemed him unable to safely travel from the jail to court.”

Vieira hung himself while strapped into a straitjacket the next morning, Aug. 28, 2018, his family said.

“As tragic as Mr. Vieira’s death was, what makes it so much worse is our belief that it was entirely preventable,” said Hillary Nappi, attorney for the deceased inmate’s brother, Andre Vieira.

“As we allege in our complaint, there were a number of failures on the part of the defendants here that led to Mr. Vieira taking his own life,” Nappi said.

According to Nappi, those alleged “failures” include:

• Failing to properly train corrections officers to adequately assess, monitor, and treat inmates with suicidal tendencies and other psychological problems
• Failing to utilize an appropriate mental illness and substance abuse screening and treatment plan
• Failing to properly screen inmates for suicidal tendencies or other mental health problems
• Failing to properly and adequately monitor inmates
• Failing to treat inmates medically when necessary

Patch reached out to multiple Essex County officials and CFG Health Systems seeking comment about the lawsuit. We’ll update this article with any reply we receive.

The Essex County Correctional Facility – which houses a mix of people with criminal convictions and federal ICE detainees – is also facing harsh criticism over allegedly appalling health and safety conditions.

Less than a year after a nonprofit watchdog group named it as one of three "inhumane" jails in New Jersey, officials with the DHS Office of the Inspector General announced that several serious health and safety risks to inmates turned up at the county-run jail during an surprise visit in 2018.

For example, inspectors allegedly discovered open packages of raw chicken leaking blood, “slimy and discolored” lunch meat and “unrecognizable” hamburger patties.

"For dinner, we were served meatballs that smelled like fecal matter," one inmate claimed.

• See related article: Jail Served Us Meatballs That Smelled Like Feces, NJ Inmate Says

According to DHS inspectors, other alleged risks to inmates at the jail include:

• Leaking ceilings in detainee living areas
• Showers laced with mold and peeling paint
• Mattresses in such poor condition that detainees were using bed sheets to tie the seams together so the filling didn't come out
• Mesh cages added to glass enclosures inside housing areas to provide "outdoor" recreation for detainees

In February, Green resigned as warden, a day after he was charged with driving under the influence in Middlesex County, NJ.com reported.

SUICIDE IN PRISON: ‘NOT A NEW PROBLEM’

According to the complaint, suicides are not a new problem for CFG Health Systems. Another jail where CFG provides healthcare services, Hudson County Corrections and Rehabilitation Center, has allegedly seen at least 10 inmates take their own lives since 2015, with four inmates doing so between June 2017 and March 2018.

In March 2018, after a 26-year-old man was found hanging in his jail cell, Hudson County officials that they were going to take a hard look at CFG's contract to provide medical services at the county-run prison.

• See related article: Suicide At Hudson County Jail; Officials Eye Contract
• See related article: Immigrant Rights Group Says Hudson County Jail Deaths Are 'Systemic'
• See related article: Hudson County Inmate Dies While Serving 6-Month Sentence For DWI

CFC also provides healthcare services for inmates at the Cumberland County Jail and the Atlantic County Division of Adult Detention (Atlantic County Jail) in southern New Jersey. At least 10 inmates at those two jails have committed suicide since 2011, according to Vieira’s attorneys.

In November 2018, a WNYC report stated that suicides committed by inmates with untreated drug addictions or mental illnesses are big contributors to the number of prison deaths in New Jersey. The rate of suicide in the state's jails rose an average of 55 percent each year between 2012 and 2016.

Although there are jails in 20 of 21 counties in the Garden State, they “operate with little oversight" from the New Jersey Department of Corrections, which has a "patchwork system of rules and no consistent system for investigating deaths,” WNYC reported.

For example, 17 deaths have been recorded at the Hudson County Correctional Facility since 2013, but officials were only able to locate incident reports for six, WNYC stated.

• See related article: Jail Suicide Rate Skyrocketing In New Jersey, Report Says
• See related article: 1 In 10 New Jersey Inmates Will Likely Die In Jail
• See related article: Embattled NJ Prison Company Keeps Getting Contracts

SUICIDE PREVENTION RESOURCES

People experiencing suicidal thoughts can find support at the below resources:

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 800-273-TALK (8255)
• Tlc4teens.org: A website created by the Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth, which includes organizations, hotlines and relevant articles that have been vetted by TLC
• Call or text 2NDFLOOR — a confidential and anonymous helpline for New Jersey youth and young adults, ages 10 to 24, at 888-222-2228. It is staffed 24 hours a day.
• NJ Hopeline: 855-NJ-HOPELINE at 855-654-6735

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page here. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com