Suit Alleges Policy Decisions Led To Suicide at Community Reintegration Center

Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

A family is suing Milwaukee County, alleging that Antonio Bonaccorso died because of county policy decisions. Bonaccorso died in May 2023 following a suicide attempt at the county’s Community Reintegration Center (CRC).

During the roughly three and a half months Bonaccorso was incarcerated at the CRC, he repeatedly reported his deteriorating mental health to staff and family members, according to a lawsuit filed by his family in November. He died as a result of county policies, training and staffing that amounted to a “deliberate indifference to a known serious medical condition,” according to the complaint, filed Nov. 26 by attorney Paul A. Kinne of Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs.

The brisk complaint details how Bonaccorso began displaying serious mental health challenges upon his arrival at the CRC on Feb. 18, 2023, and that they continued and were regularly reported to mental health and correctional staff until his death in May that year.

The CRC is a correctional facility run by Milwaukee County. Unlike the jail, which is controlled by the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO), the CRC is under civilian control and led by County Executive David Crowley and Superintendent Chantell Jewell.

The jail has been a primary focus of elected officials and community advocates concerned about in-custody deaths, following six in-custody deaths since 2021. The county board commissioned an audit of the facility that found “deeply alarming” suicide policy and inadequate suicide watch policies and training.

The CRC has not received the same scrutiny the jail has, but the allegations in the complaint sketch a picture of a similar failure to properly respond to and monitor mental health concerns.

Bonaccorso was booked into the CRC in February on charges of felony victim intimidation and misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct. Staff reported he was “emotionally unstable, paranoid, restless, bipolar, impulsive and insomniac.”

By March, he was telling staff that the conditions there were “making it difficult to sustain himself” and that he was “undergoing a mental breakdown.” By the end of the month, staff reported he was “delusional and depressed” and “needed supportive counseling and psychotropic medication,” according to the complaint.

He remained in this condition throughout April. He reported hearing voices and told staff, “I can’t do jail anymore.”

Bonaccorso was concerned about his safety, telling staff so in May. He didn’t feel safe in the general population and wasn’t sleeping. Staff reported that he wasn’t taking his medication for severe depression. At one point, he asked to “go to the hole for my mental health,” according to the complaint. In a correctional setting, “the hole” typically refers to solitary confinement.

In the days leading up to his death, Bonaccorso would report that he hadn’t slept in a week; that he didn’t feel safe; that he could not stop crying and he feared for his life and that he wanted to take his own life.

When a mental health worker brought up Bonaccorso’s fear and safety concerns to corrections staff they were told Bonaccorso would have to raise the issue himself. The complaint alleges, though cannot confirm, that CRC staff heard Bonaccorso tell his mother “that he wanted to kill himself” and took no action in response.

Finally, on May 23, Bonaccorso was transferred to a segregated cell. He was brought there, in part, because he was having difficulty breathing and needed to use an inhaler. That morning, he allegedly told another person incarcerated at the CRC that he intended to take his own life.

According to the complaint, at 1:45 p.m. on May 23 he was observed during a check that occurs every 30 minutes. The 2:15 p.m. check never occurred, and at 2:43 p.m. a correctional officer reported that he found Bonaccorso unresponsive and with a sheet tied around his neck. He succumbed to his injuries later that day.