Photos: New York State Assembly Majority, NYS Senate Media Services Illustration: New York Focus
Note: This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here.
Two women have died by suicide and a third from cancer at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, the reporting found.
Rebecca McCray New York Focus
Two New York lawmakers called on the state prison agency to investigate apparent suicides and allegations of deteriorating conditions at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, following New York Focus reporting last week that three people died over four weeks at the women’s prison.
“This recent and alarming spate of suicides is tragic, and what is most tragic is that they may have been preventable,” wrote New York State Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Chris Burdick in the letter, sent to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) on Friday. “There is an urgent need for an independent, dispassionate investigation that delves into the quality of care for those suffering from mental illness, and whether there are conditions at BHCF that aggravate such illnesses,” he added.
The deaths at the prison mirror a statewide trend in 2026, according to the Correctional Association of New York, which monitors the state’s prisons. Last year, 130 people died in DOCCS custody, but if this year’s deaths continue at their current pace, roughly 180 incarcerated people could die.
Third Death in Four Weeks Rocks Bedford Hills Women’s Prison
In December, Burdick and Harckham visited Bedford Hills and spoke with members of the Incarcerated Liaison Committee, representatives of the prison’s general population who communicate concerns to prison administrators. Committee members told the lawmakers that following the recent appointment of Deputy Superintendent of Security Michel Blot, there had been “significant changes in their schedules and privileges” that were negatively impacting mental health. They were now required to sign up for showers, for instance, during limited windows of time that often conflicted with prison jobs and programs. This meant many women were going without showers for days, according to currently incarcerated people and prison watchdogs. Thomas Mailey, director of public information for the prison agency, disputed the claim that shower access was limited or eliminated.
People close to Manuela “Mannie” Morgado, who died last week, noted that she had lived in Fiske Cottage, an honor dorm that afforded its residents certain privileges and insulated them from many issues affecting the general population. But Morgado had recently received a disciplinary ticket that could send her to the general population dorms, they said. Word of the stricter conditions in the general population living areas had made their way to Fiske.
Morgado’s official cause of death, as well as that of Tracy Morales, which advocates and people incarcerated at Bedford Hills also attributed to suicide, will be formally determined by the county medical examiner’s office, according to Mailey. The State Commission of Correction reviews all in-custody deaths, Mailey noted. Deaths not attributed to natural causes or ongoing medical conditions are investigated by the New York State Police and DOCCS’s Office of Special Investigations.
Senator Harckham, Assemblyman Burdick, Call for Investigation into Bedford Women’s Prison
