Wrongfully Jailed New Yorker Experienced ‘Paranoia’ Before Suicide - Family

New York City resident Kaleif Browder, who took his own life on Saturday after being jailed for three years without a trial, felt paranoia in the days leading up to his death, Kaleif’s brother Kamal told reporters during a Thursday vigil.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) — In May 2010, Kaleif was arrested in New York City at the age of 16 and was released in June 2013 without being charged with a crime.

“Kaleif was paranoid and that’s not just a mental issue, he was paranoid for rightful reasons.”

On Thursday, about 100 New Yorkers attended a vigil in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center to mourn Kaleif’s loss.

“It’s a hard time to understand what everyone’s going through here,” Kamal told the crowd.

“He [Kaleif] was secluding himself because he was scared,” Kamal said. “He did solitary confinement for so long.”

Browder was found dead at his family’s Bronx, New York home on Saturday after he used an air-conditioning cord to hang himself, according to the New Yorker magazine.

In May 2013, Mother Jones magazine ranked Rikers Island, the prison where Browder was detained, as one of the ten worst prisons in the United States.