Anthony Myrie
Coxsackie, NY — Anthony Myrie, a 24-year old Black man from Brooklyn who unexpectedly died while in prison, appears to have died from sudden cardiac arrest according to authorities. However, his family is not convinced and wants the truth about his mysterious death.
Eventually, the state DOCCS released a statement “given the abundance of misinformation in circulation.” It said that Myrie died of cardiac arrest following a fight with other inmates.
Myrie’s case has been widely shared on social media after his wife and brother posted about his death on Instagram. It has also caught the attention of rapper Cardi B, who expressed her disappointment to the Greene County Prison and shared experiences from some of her friends who also suffered abuse there.
Sade Myrie, his wife, said he spoke to her husband just hours before his death.
“He seemed worrisome like he didn’t want to get off the phone and I kind of tried to pry to see what was wrong,” she told PIX11. “He said it was like nothing that he couldn’t handle.”
According to Sade’s post, an inmate called her to tell that Myrie had been put in solitary confinement. But when she called the prison, she was told he was in the general population. Hours later, she received another call from prison officials and told her that he was in critical condition. Without an hour later, prison officials called again to tell them that Myrie died.
Myrie’s family initially didn’t receive any information about his death. Later on, DOCCS said he was involved in a “three-on-one fight with other incarcerated individuals” and no officers used force when they stopped the fight.
Myrie was examined by the medical staff and found no injuries after the fight. Thomas Mailey, spokesman for DOCCS, said that when he was being brought to the holding area, he complained of chest pain and “was immediately returned to the medical unit for further evaluation when he collapsed, unconscious and unresponsive.”
“At that point, medical staff began emergency response and called for outside emergency medical services. He was transported by ambulance to Albany Medical Center for further treatment where he was, ultimately, pronounced dead,” the statement reads.
His family is still confused about his death.
“What happened to him? Where is he? How did he die? Who was around him? I just want to know,” Sade said about her husband’s death.
Gloria Parker, Myrie’s grandmother, was also stunned. She said, “I don’t know how he died. He was healthy.”
Moreover, Sade is trying to seek legal actions and hired David Hernandez as the family’s lawyer.
“First he was in the box, then he wasn’t,” Hernandez said he was told. “He was involved in some sort of altercation, no, there was no altercation.”
Meanwhile, the New York State Police are investigating his death and the death of another inmate, Delmus R. Tanner, Jr. who also died at Greene County Prison last November.
A GoFundMe campaign has been made to support his family for funeral costs and other expenses. So far, it has gathered over $2,000.