Jerome Murdough, 56, died in a Rikers Island cell due to the extreme heat, the city examiner officially announced.

The death of a man who officials say “baked to death” while being held in a Rikers Island jail cell has been ruled accidental.

The mentally ill former Marine died in a jail cell that had a 101-degree temperature. 

From New York Daily News:

The city’s medical examiner determined Jerome Murdough, 56, died Feb. 15 of hyperthermia due to “environmental exposure to heat,” a spokeswoman said. Antipsychotic medication he was taking was a contributing factor.

Officials said Murdough “basically baked to death.”

Read more at New York Daily News

Murdough’s mother, Alma Murdough, filed the $25 million wrongfully death lawsuit earlier this year.

Murdough was found slumped at the foot of his bed with a pool of blood and vomit on the floor. He was being held on a misdemeanor trespassing charge, after being found in a public housing project hallway.

Murdough was believed to be seeking shelter from the harsh weather.

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