Home > News > New York Times Publishes Video Footage of the Tragic Suicide of Michael Nieves at Rikers Island
New York Times Publishes Video Footage of the Tragic Suicide of Michael Nieves at Rikers Island
- July 17, 2025
On July 14, 2025, the New York Times published video footage of the tragic and shocking suicide of Michael Nieves, brother of ECBAWM clients David Nieves and Anthony Morgan, to highlight the dysfunction at Rikers Island. According to a lawsuit filed by ECBAWM on behalf of Mr. Nieves’s brothers in 2023, Mr. Nieves died in August 2022 after New York City Department of Corrections (DOC) staff provided him with a shaving razor and then locked him in his cell, alone and unsupervised, despite the fact that he was a known suicide risk with an extensively documented history of severe mental health problems. Left alone in his cell, Mr. Nieves used the razor to cut his throat. When DOC staff saw Mr. Nieves bleeding from the neck, they stood by and watched for ten minutes without providing any first aid or arranging for the necessary medical treatment as he bled to death before their eyes.
The DOC staff members’ unconscionable inaction is captured in the footage released by the New York Times, which—according to the accompanying news article—reporters sought via a freedom of information request and then obtained three years after filing suit to force the City to comply with state open records laws.
The horrific and unnecessary death of Michael Nieves is not an isolated incident. For years, City and DOC officials have presided over a system of abuse and extreme indifference to the needs of people living with mental illness in DOC custody, many of whom are at clear risk for suicide or serious self-harm. ECBAWM’s lawsuit seeks damages and accountability on behalf of Mr. Nieves’ family.
ECBAWM attorneys Jonathan Abady, Sam Shapiro, and Emily Wanger represent the brothers of Mr. Nieves.
