City Jail Captain, Accused of Standing By During Suicide, Was Disciplined For Failing To Intervene In Prior Incident
arrow Captain Rebecca Hillman being escorted to her arraignment. George Joseph / Gothamist
A city correction officer who faces criminal charges for allegedly failing to stop the suicide of a detainee in a Manhattan jail last fall was also disciplined last year for failing to intervene in a different incident, city records show.
Captain Rebecca Hillman was arraigned on Monday by Manhattan prosecutors who say she is responsible for not intervening in the suicide of Ryan Wilson, a 29-year-old man who died at the Manhattan Detention Complex last November. Department of Correction disciplinary records show the jail supervisor’s alleged conduct in the incident may not have been isolated.
By Bill Galluccio
Apr 27, 2021
Ryan Wilson, who had been a prisoner at Manhattan Detention Complex for about a month, was ordered to be transferred to another housing unit by Captain
Rebecca Hillman after he got into an argument with another inmate.
While waiting for the transfer, Wilson threatened to hang himself and tied the bedsheet into a noose. Another guard radioed Hilman for assistance, but she did not come immediately. After ten minutes, Wilson draped the noose over the light fixture, tied it around his neck, and jumped off the bed.
The other guard asked to open the cell door, but Hilman said to keep it closed, claiming that Wilson was just playing. After about a minute, she ordered the guard to open the door but wouldn t let him provide medical aid to Wilson.
New York City Department of Correction captain charged in death of inmate
A captain with the New York City Department of Correction has been charged with criminally negligent homicide for allegedly ordering subordinates not to help a detainee as he hanged himself in a cell.
Rebecca Hillman, 38, was charged in the death of Manhattan Detention Complex inmate Ryan Wilson, according to a grand jury indictment.
Hillman was arraigned before Judge Laura Ward and pleaded not guilty on Monday, district attorney’s office spokeswoman Naomi Puzzello told CNN. She was released on her own recognizance, Puzzello said.
“As alleged in the indictment, the death of Ryan Wilson wasn’t just a tragedy it was a crime,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a news release.