The families of three men to die by suicide at the ACI in 2023 file suit

PROVIDENCE – The families of three men who committed suicide within five months last year at the Adult Correctional Institutions are accusing state Department of Corrections officials and unnamed corrections officers of negligence and deliberate indifference for failing to take steps to prevent them from harming themselves.

The state Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, through cooperating lawyers, filed suit in U.S. District Court on Wednesday against the Corrections Director Wayne T. Salisbury Jr. , several wardens and unnamed corrections officers.

The families allege that prison administrators and officers failed to take steps to protect the men – Brian Rodenas, 27; Peter De Los Santos, 35; and Dana Leyland, 39 – despite all expressing their intention to commit suicide.

“These three deaths were tragedies, and they highlight all too unfortunately the critical need to vastly limit the cruel and too-extensive use of solitary confinement at the ACI . The loss of these lives is only compounded by the lack of transparency surrounding their passing,” ACLU of R.I. Executive Director Steven Brown said in a statement.

He emphasized that the state Department of Corrections has been without a permanent medical director for almost two years. The ACLU has called on the agency to prioritize filling the position.

According to the ACLU, the families have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get detailed information about the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

"They hope these lawsuits will ensure greater transparency and expose inadequacies in prison operations," the ACLU said in the release.

Men plagued by mental illness, substance use disorders, complaint says

According to the allegations, Rodenas had a history of severe mental illness that prison officials were aware of. They nonetheless repeatedly housed him in solitary confinement and took no action to abate the risk of suicide despite his informing prison officials of his intent to do so. He hanged himself with a bed sheet on May 2, 2023, while in solitary in the maximum security unit.

At the time, Rodenas was serving a 10-year term after being sentenced in 2017 on a firearms charge.

Leyland was awaiting trial on drug offenses in April 2023 and suffering withdrawal symptoms from substance use disorder when he hanged himself with a bed sheet while in solitary confinement in the Intake Service Center, according to the complaint.

De Los Santos had a known history of substance use disorders and was awaiting trial at the Intake Service Center, according to the complaint. Like Leyland, De Los Santos was suffering withdrawal symptoms and hanged himself with his shoelaces in August 2023.

All three men alerted staff to their suicidal intentions and the families accuse officials of negligence for not providing the men with adequate care, deliberate indifference, supervisory liability and negligent supervision and training, the complaint said. They are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages as survivors of the men.

Lawyers Mark Decof, Jeffrey Mega and Shad Miller, of the law firm of Decof, Mega & Quinn, P.C. are presenting the men as cooperating attorneys with the ACLU.

Five have died at ACI in 2024

The lawsuits come as five men have died this year while in prison custody. The most recent death occurred June 28 , when staff found a man, who reportedly had medical issues, unresponsive at 4 p.m.

Officers called for medical assistance, and took life-saving steps until the arrival of Cranston rescue, according to Corrections Spokesman J.R. Ventura. He was taken to Kent County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“As is the case with any inmate death, the matter is under investigation by the State Police and RIDOC’s Investigative Unit,” Ventura said in an email.

“Our top priority has been, and will always be, the safety and security of everyone under our purview, staff and inmates alike," Ventura said. "As for the particulars of the case itself, we are unable to discuss ongoing litigation.”

Asked for updates on the cause of the other deaths, including that of 25-year-old Wille Washington in March , Ventura said there was no new news, as they are still awaiting medical examiner’s reports.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 27 inmates died by suicide in Rhode Island prisons between 2001 and 2019. There were at least four deaths by suicide at the ACI in 2023, according to the ACLU.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: The families of three men to die by suicide at the ACI in 2023 file suit