The city has agreed to pay $28.7 million to the family of a Rikers Island inmate left severely brain damaged during a suicide attempt he made while jail guards watched, court records show.
The incident left Nicholas Feliciano needing a lifetime of care, sparked criminal charges against four of the guards and prompted his family to sue the city, the Health and Hospitals Corporation and others.
While a judge still needs to sign off on the proposed deal, the settlement would rank as one of the largest payouts the city has made to a person in a civil rights case, according to The New York Times, which first reported on the deal.
Feliciano was 18 when he ended up on Rikers in November 2019 for an alleged parole violation, according to a report from the city’s Board of Correction and the lawsuit.
The Queens man had a documented history of metal illness and suicide attempts, and nine days after he was sent to jail, he tried to hang himself from inside his cell, his family contended in their Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit.
Guards allegedly watched Feliciano dangle from a garment he hung on a hook from the ceiling for seven minutes but did nothing, his family alleged in court papers.
Feliciano was finally saved by a jail captain who saw what happened on a surveillance camera and went to cut him down from the makeshift noose, according to the legal papers.
Now 22, Feliciano needs constant care, “has limited vocal functions,” cannot stand independently or feed himself, the family said in the litigation which originally sought unspecified damages.
He also has short-term memory loss, and remembers very little from before the suicide attempt, his grandmother, Madeline Feliciano told The Times, adding the proposed settlement would help cover the costs for Feliciano’s lifetime of care.
“It is not going to bring Nicholas back to who he was,” Madeline, 57, said.
“He has to live with this injury for rest of his life.”
Two of the guards pleaded guilty last year to official misconduct, with the others still have pending criminal cases.
“The settlement of this tragic case was in the best interest of all parties,” a Law Department spokesman told The Post.
“The DOC is working to ensure the safety of all on Rikers, including those afflicted with serious mental illness.”
Feliciano had been attacked twice while in Rikers and should not have been placed with the general jail population due to his mental health issues, the family’s lawyer, David B. Rankin, told The Times.
Rankin could not immediately be reached for comment.
