By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday on an 18-year-old inmate at the Erie County Holding Center who died Monday following an early Sunday suicide attempt in his jail cell.
A sheriff's spokeswoman confirmed Rakim Scriven died at Buffalo General Hospital late Monday afternoon. He was found hanging from his bed sheet a day earlier.
The United States Justice Department has been monitoring conditions at the holding center in the wake of previous suicides. A lawsuit filed against the county was dropped just last month after the county agreed to greater cooperation with federal officials.
Prison rights advocate Karima Amin tells Channel 7's Eyewitness News that the actions taken to date to guard against suicides are not working.