by After police said an 18-year-old woman took her own life while in NYPD custody, the teenager’s family is now raising questions about her last hours alive — demanding answers and calling for more information to be released.
According to police, Saniyah Cheatham was found unconscious inside a cell at a stationhouse on Longwood Avenue just before 1 a.m. Saturday. She was pronounced dead a short time later at Lincoln Hospital.
But just hours before her arrest, Cheatham’s mother said her daughter was all smiles at a family July Fourth cookout in Crotona Park.
“She was happy and I was happy to see her,” said Thomasina Cheatham.
The family said that after the cookout, Cheatham got into a physical fight with her girlfriend, leading to both of them getting arrested. The NYPD has not yet confirmed those details, but did say officers performed CPR on her after she was found seemingly lifeless in the precinct cell around 12:40 a.m.
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division, which investigates cases when a person in police custody dies, is looking into Cheatham’s case.
As for her mother, she is casting doubt on her daughter’s death being a suicide.
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“What happened to her? I don’t believe she killed herself,” said Thomasina. “Maybe she said something they didn’t like, they roughed her up. I don’t believe my daughter committed suicide.”
The family said police told them that Cheatham used a sweater to asphyxiate herself.
“She did not have on a sweater that day,” her mother said.
The Cheatham family on Tuesday called on the NYPD to release surveillance footage of inside the precinct and demanded arresting officers turn in their lapel video.
“Oh she hung herself on the bars. I would like to see that,” Thomasina Cheatham said.
The teenager’s brother called for autopsy results to be released as well.
The medical examiner had not yet determined a cause of death, previously saying it was pending further study following an examination on Sunday.
