The family of an inmate who killed himself at an Erie County prison is suing over his death.
Relatives said in the federal lawsuit filed Monday that officials beat Dante Taylor and ignored warning signs that put him at a heightened suicide risk. He killed himself in an infirmary cell at Wende Correctional Facility in October 2017.
The family accuses officials of recklessly failing to set up proper suicide prevention efforts and argues the 22-year-old's death was avoidable.
“Dante Taylor’s death at age 22 was foreseeable and preventable,” said Katie Rosenfeld, one of Taylor’s lawyers. “Dante’s family calls for an open and full investigation into the circumstances of his death, and seeks accountability for the vicious, extra-legal beating by the rogue correction officers that triggered his death.”
Taylor's life-without-parole sentence stemmed from his conviction in the 2014 murder of Sarah Goode, 21. Media have reported Goode was stabbed more than 40 times and ultimately killed in a wooded area of Medford, NY. She was the mother of a 6-year-old daughter.
