Middlesex County Must Pay $20K For Woodbridge Woman Who Died

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Middlesex County must pay $20,000 to the family of a Woodbridge young woman who committed suicide while she was being held at the county jail in 2013.

Ashley Schubiger, 25, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge, was being held at the Middlesex County jail in the summer of 2013. According to a lawsuit filed by her mother, she repeatedly threatened to commit suicide before she finally hung herself in her cell on Aug. 5, 2013. The article, reported in MyCentralJersey, does not say why she was originally arrested and being held at the jail.

Schubiger was a lifelong Colonia resident and graduate of Woodbridge High School. She was an artist and attending Middlesex County Community College when she died.

According to the suit, county correction officers should have known Schubiger was a drug addict, and had a history of suicide. They should not have kept her in a jail cell with bed sheets, which she ultimately used to hang herself.

The suit was filed by Ashley's mother, Ellen Schubiger. Tragically, Ellen Schubiger died last January, so the money will go to her daughter's estate.

In settling the suit, Middlesex County admitted no wrongdoing.

Photo of the Middlesex County Correctional Center via Middlesex County.