The death of an autistic man last summer after he was restrained by guards at a Queens Village mental health facility has been ruled a homicide by the city Medical Examiner.
Rasheen Rose, 33, was a patient at the Bernard Fineson Developmental Center when he was restrained by guards there on Aug. 12, Rose’s family said.
Shaniece Luke, 38, the victim’s sister, said the family is set to file two wrongful death lawsuits — one against the state and one against the guards.
“I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else because they’re helpless,” she said of patients there. “He was a nice, kind person. I would have never thought this would happen. He shouldn’t be dead.”
One complaint will be filed in Albany against the state on Wednesday and another against the workers on Feb. 5 in Brooklyn federal court, the family’s lawyer said.
According to the complaint, staff members restrained Rose by sitting on his chest, causing him “to suffer severe bodily injuries that directly caused his death.”
The Medical Examiner ruled on Dec. 28 that Rose’s death was a homicide caused by “sudden death during physical restraint of agitated individual.”
The Bernard Fineson Developmental Center did not return several calls by the Daily News.
Rose’s family’s lawyer, Aaron DePass, accused the facility of having “a culture of abuse.”
“If you don’t bring these types of cases then the abuse is going to continue unabated. It’s a real problem for the people who live in these institutions,” he said.
The state is looking into the homicide, officials said Tuesday.
“As an active investigation into this incident is underway, the state Health Department cannot comment at this time,” said agency spokesman Jeffrey Hammond.
The state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, which has an incident management unit to investigate abuses in state-run facilities, is looking into the matter but could not comment on a pending investigation, said agency spokeswoman Tiffany Portzer.
At the time of his death Rose was medicated with four different drugs, according to the Medical Examiner’s office. They are used to treat a variety of issues, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression.
One anti-depressant called chloral hydrate, which has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, was found in his system, the Medical Examiner’s office said.
Luke said her brother was unable to speak and had been institutionalized with severe autism since he was 10 years old, when his parents died.
He was at the Bernard Fineson Developmental Center for over ten years, she said, and had never had a problem prior to the incident that caused his death.
“I hope that nobody else has to go through it,” Luke said.
