New York City has reached a pretrial settlement to pay more than $28 million to the family of an 18-year-old who suffered severe brain damage while trying to hang himself in a jail cell at Rikers Island while more than a half-dozen corrections officers were standing by, some watching.

If a judge approves the settlement in the case of Nicholas Feliciano, it will be one of the largest agreements awarded to a single plaintiff filing in a civil rights case in the city, reports The New York Times.

Feliciano was sent to Rikers in late 2019 on a parole violation, after suffering from a history of suicide attempts and hospitalizations for psychiatric problems. Video obtained by The Times shows that the guards were watching but did not intervene as he tried to hang himself in jail that November. 

Felony charges were filed against three of the guards and a captain, with two of the guards pleading guilty in 2023 to misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, allowing them to avoid time in jail. The cases against the captain and the other guard remain pending. 

Feliciano has been under medical care for the past four years, first at the Bellevue Hospital Center and now at a rehabilitation center. His grandmother, Madeline Feliciano, said he must use a walker, can’t eat without assistance, and suffers short-term memory loss.

She said the settlement will help his family bring him home and care for him, even though it won’t bring him “back to who he was.”

A spokeswoman for the Correction Department said the agency has been taking steps to reduce detainees from harming themselves, and officers are trained to prevent suicides and recognize signs of distress in mentally ill inmates.

Department of Correction jail surveillance footage and that from body cameras, gathered by attorneys representing Feliciano and his family, show that other detainees attacked Feliciano before he tried to hang himself.

Feliciano, who had been diagnosed with clinical depression, was put in general population housing with detainees known for gang violence, said his attorney, David Rankin. 

In addition, Rankin said Feliciano was not given his antipsychotic medication, although his mental health needs were recorded in detail during other stints he had spent in Rikers and elsewhere.

On Nov. 27, the day he tried to hang himself, Feliciano was attacked at about 5:30 p.m. by several detainees, marking his second violent encounter in two days. 

After the attack, which left Feliciano bleeding, officers isolated him in a holding pen for hours to await transportation to an urgent care center. 

At about 11:26 p.m., he started to fashion a noose from his clothing and then went on to hang himself. According to the videos, at least nine jailers walked past or glanced at the cell for seven minutes and 51 seconds while Feliciano was hanging at the ends of his sweatshirts. 

The Department of Correction’s investigations division later found that all nine of the guards failed to do their jobs. Some were suspended without pay, with the remaining four being charged by the Bronx district attorney in 2022.

Seven of the guards in question had already faced disciplinary charges for offenses ranging from lying on official records, using excessive force, and failing to supervise detainees.

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