Saniyah Cheatham told police she was having suicidal thoughts and warned officers she would take her own life if left alone. Hours later, the 18-year-old was found dead in a cell at the Longwood Avenue stationhouse in the Bronx, having strangled herself with her sweater. More than a year later, her mother is still fighting the city for answers about what happened inside that cell.
A Mother's Fight for Records
Thomasina Cheatham, 46, filed a petition against New York City in Manhattan Supreme Court, according to the New York Post. Cheatham says she filed the petition after city agencies allegedly failed to respond to her FOIL request, and that she first requested the documents back in February. The petition demands access to body-camera footage, security video, and records detailing her daughter's final moments in custody.
According to the same report, Cheatham also filed a separate petition in November 2025 seeking the names of the officers involved in Saniyah's arrest and custody, and she is represented by attorney Jeremy Ravinsky. The FDNY reportedly rejected Cheatham's requests and appeals for Saniyah's file, and she is also requesting her entire file from the agency concerning the EMS response to her daughter's death. The FDNY declined to comment, and the NYPD did not return requests for comment, the outlet notes.
What Happened on July 4
Saniyah Cheatham was arrested at a party in Crotona Park after a fistfight with her girlfriend and was held overnight at the Bronx 41st NYPD Precinct on the Fourth of July in 2025, per the same account. She was experiencing a mental breakdown and told police she was having suicidal thoughts, yet NYPD officers placed her alone in a holding cell despite her statements. She was found dead in the cell around 1 a.m.
Police sources told NewsOne that Cheatham hanged herself within about two minutes of being placed alone in the holding cell around 12:15 a.m. on July 5, 2025, but officers reportedly did not request Emergency Medical Services until roughly 12:40 a.m.
Shifting Statements and a Suspicious Ruling
In the days after Cheatham's death, NYPD statements shifted from initially describing it as a suicide, to a medical emergency, and later to a classification of suspicious, according to News 12 Bronx. That outlet also reported that Cheatham was an A-student who had just completed her freshman year at Bronx Community College and, according to her family, this was her first arrest.
The New York City Chief Medical Examiner's Office officially ruled on July 14, 2025, that Cheatham's cause of death was hanging and the manner was suicide, as Capital B News reported. Her mother has publicly questioned how her daughter could have used a sweater she reportedly was not wearing that day, a discrepancy the family continues to dispute.
A $25 Million Claim and a Legal Team
Civil rights attorneys representing the family filed a $25 million notice of claim against New York City and the NYPD on October 3, 2025, alleging wrongful death, illegal detention, and a failure of officers to intervene or follow crisis protocols, according to the Bronx Times. Attorney David B. Rankin filed that claim on behalf of Thomasina Cheatham and Saniyah's brothers, Javan and Savaughn, demanding that the city preserve all electronic recordings, phone logs, and surveillance video.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is also involved in the case, said the failures were preventable and inexcusable. Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson acknowledged the family's concerns, saying the family's pain and trauma must be acknowledged as they seek answers and justice.
Broader Scrutiny of NYPD Custody Deaths
Cheatham's case has drawn attention to a wider pattern. According to data from the New York State Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation cited by the Queens Daily Eagle, 12 people died in NYPD custody in 2024, and five people had died in NYPD custody in 2025 as of September 16. Public defender groups cited those figures while demanding independent oversight mechanisms.
An online petition demanding the release of precinct surveillance footage and an independent investigation into Cheatham's death gathered over 10,000 signatures within two weeks of the incident, Capital B News reported. Community activists have also compared her death with other police-custody deaths, according to Black Westchester.
The NYPD's internal Force Investigation Division launched a formal inquiry immediately after Cheatham's death to review the actions of officers stationed at the 41st Precinct, according to CBS New York. More than a year later, Cheatham's mother is still asking the city to hand over the documents she says will explain what happened to her daughter.
