Harrell
BEACON – It was on April 21, 2015 that Fishkill Correctional Facility
inmate Samuel Harrell, 30, of Kingston died and this weekend family members
went on a hunger vigil and rally near the prison calling for justice for
Sam Harrell.
He died after reportedly being beaten and thrown down a flight of stairs
by a group of as many as 20 corrections officers. The case remains under
investigation and no charges have been lodged against anyone who may have
been involved.
Several speakers at the Saturday rally called for justice for Harrell.
Jeffrey Golden of Beacon had a message for Governor Cuomo and corrections
officials.
“We want the violent C-Os (corrections officers) out and body cameras
in. We want decreased use of solitary confinement and increased training.
None of these are silver bullets but each of them can make a big different
in changing the culture of this violent and out-of-control institution,”
he said.
Eric Jensen, a former inmate, said he can imagine what his friend went
through in his final moments.
Eric Jensen and Cerissa Harrell
“I, myself, was a victim of violence by corrections officers. While
my teeth were being kicked in, all I could think of was how helpless I
felt and how I was going to die here and nobody would know the truth about
what happened,” he said. “Today we are gathered here as one
seeking justice for Samuel Harrell. We want accountability.”
Harrell’s sister, Cerissa Harrell of Kingston, still feels the pain
of his loss.
“What they did was wrong. It should be a lot of training [for corrections
officers] and a lot of days going on for a situation like that,”
she said. My brother had a mental illness that would come about sporadically
and I just feel like those corrections officers should have been built
to handle people like that, especially Fishkill being a mental health
facility,” she said.
Harrell was in prison on drug charges. He was being taken by officers
from solitary confinement and thought he was going home, when, in fact,
they were going to return him to his regular housing. He acted out because
of his mental illness and that was when he was beaten and kicked. He died
after being taken to the hospital.
