Bronx Family Questions Daughter’s Death In NYPD Custody

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The New York Police Department is facing anger and questions from the family of 18-year-old Saniyah Cheatham, after their investigation claimed that her death in a stationhouse in the Bronx was a suicide. The family is requesting that officers turn in their body camera videos and that surveillance video from the 41st precinct be made public.

Cheatham was in NYPD custody after reportedly being arrested on the Fourth of July after a physical altercation with her girlfriend, which occurred after they attended a family cookout held in Crotona Park. According to reporting by the New York Times, two officers with knowledge of the Force Investigation Division’s investigation claimed that Cheatham was found unresponsive in her cell leading to officers performing CPR on her at 12:40 a.m. She was then transported to NYC Health and Hospitals/Lincoln, where she died shortly after arrival.

The officers claimed that Cheatham took her own life via asphyxiation, which was swiftly challenged by her family. “What happened to her? I don’t believe she killed herself,” said her mother, Thomasina Cheatham, when interviewed by NBC4 New York. “Maybe she said something they didn’t like, they roughed her up. I don’t believe my daughter committed suicide.”

Her mother also said that police told her she used a sweater to hang herself. “She did not have on a sweater that day,” Ms. Cheatham said, noting how Saniyah Cheatham was in good spirits at the cookout. “She was happy and I was happy to see her,” she shared. Her brother, Javan Cheatham, also called for the autopsy results to be released.

On Monday afternoon, the family announced that they were retaining attorney Ben Crump as their legal representation. A press conference outside of the 41st Precinct on Longwood Avenue was scheduled for later that afternoon. Julie Bolcer, a spokeswoman for the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office said that an autopsy was performed on Cheatham on Sunday (July 13).

“Saniyah Cheatham was an 18-year-old with her whole life ahead of her. I commend her mother, Thomasina, for her courage in standing up to demand the truth. How could this happen to a young woman in police custody? Why wasn’t her safety ensured by those charged with her care? No mother should be left in the dark after her child dies in police custody. We demand full transparency and accountability for this grieving family,” Crump said in a statement.

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