Saniyah Cheatham, 05.07.2025. Died in police custody – New York

Family and community members gathered on Tuesday 22 of July for a wake service to commemorate Saniyah Cheatham, an 18-year-old young Black woman from the Bronx who died in NYPD custody earlier this month.

Saniyah was arrested on July 4 for disorderly conduct after fighting with her girlfriend while leaving a family cookout, the family previously told News 12.

She was taken to the 41st Police Precinct in the Longwood neighborhood of the Bronx shortly before midnight. Anonymous NYPD officials with knowledge of the case told the New York Times that at about 12:15 a.m. Saniyah hanged herself with the sweater she was wearing while in her cell. An NYPD official told the Times she had only been in the cell for two minutes when she hanged herself.

She was found unresponsive in her cell around 12:40 a.m. the next day. Police called for an ambulance and attempted to revive Saniyah: “Multiple officers performed CPR while awaiting EMS response,” police said in an official release about her death.

Saniyah was transferred to Lincoln Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. It’s unclear if there were any other detainees in the cell, if anyone witnessed the incident, or if Saniyah called for help. 

Before her death, Saniyah was earning her GED at Bronx Community College and wanted to join the Army and eventually become a social worker, according to the program distributed at the memorial service. She loved art and music and “lived a life full of purpose, passion, and quiet strength,” it said. 

The circumstances surrounding Saniyah’s death in police custody are being investigated by the NYPD Force Investigation Division.

City medical examiners ruled the teen’s death a suicide, but her family continues to demand justice and answers into what led to her death, after Saniyah was found hanging in a holding cell at an NYPD precinct on July 5. The family she was in good spirits earlier that day, was in good health and was not wearing a sweater, and they have demanded surveillance video to be publicly released. They are being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump:

“NYPD, the blood is on your hands! We cannot let them sweep her death under the rug, We have to fight for our Black sisters.“

Her mother Thomasina is hopeful that security cameras in the jail and the medical examiner’s autopsy will give a clearer understanding of what led to her daughter’s death :

“The cameras should show exactly what happened…I’m praying that it does. I’m really praying. This is very heartbreaking to me and my family. That was my only princess. I have four boys and one girl. And we just …we just [are] really heartbroken right now”.

Saniyahs death and alleged suicide have shocked many of her close friends and family. They say she enrolled at Bronx Community College and worked so she could save up money to live on her own. Growing up, Saniyah was active in the church, which initially caused her to struggle with her sexuality. When she came out as gay to her older brother, he accepted her with no hesitation. 

Ember Baez, Saniyah’s friend and former partner, told the Times, “Everyone who has spoken to her recently knows she’s been happy. So when I heard this happened, I called her multiple times to see if it was real, and her phone just kept going straight to voicemail.”