PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Khadira Savage, Member of Freedom Agenda, on NYC Department of Correction Notification Procedures
0:24:00
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5 min
Khadira Savage, a member of Freedom Agenda, testifies in support of Intro 412 and Intro 423, sharing her personal experience with the lack of notification and poor communication from the Department of Correction (DOC) regarding her brother Roy Savage's deteriorating health and subsequent death while in custody. She emphasizes the need for transparency, accountability, and improved communication with families of incarcerated individuals.
- Savage describes the traumatic way she learned of her brother's death and the difficulties in visiting him prior to his passing.
- She highlights the lack of proper medical care and communication about her brother's condition, which rapidly declined while in DOC custody.
- Savage argues that passing Intro 423 and Intro 412 would be a step towards ensuring humane treatment and respect for incarcerated individuals and their families.
Khadira Savage
0:24:00
Good morning, council members.
0:24:02
Thank you for holding his hearing and allowing me to express my support for intro 412 and intro 423.
0:24:09
My name is Cadera Savage.
0:24:11
I'm a member of Freedom Agenda and his sister, Roy Savage.
0:24:16
As I stood in the lobby of Bellevue Hospital earlier this year, I was told in disbelief of what was being said I'm sorry.
0:24:26
As I stayed in a lobby at Bellevue Hospital earlier this year, I was in total disbelief of what was being said to me on the other end of the phone.
0:24:35
The sergeant wants to know why his still trying to come upstairs if the body is already on its way to the mall.
0:24:40
That's how I found out that my brother was dead.
0:24:44
After being held in a lobby for over an hour and told that I would not be let upstairs because based in their system, It showed that my brother had already had his 2 visits for the day.
0:24:53
I explained to the receptionist over and over that my brother was dying and that we were asked by the medical staff to come now.
0:25:01
After that, I recall getting an urgent message from my brother's long time friendly companion who explained that his condition had worsened overnight.
0:25:09
And on March 22 2024, my oldest brother, Roy Savage, was the 31st person of 33 individuals that died while in DLC's custody.
0:25:18
Since Eric Adams took office.
0:25:21
Anthony Jordan was the most recent death after he was denied the proper medical care despite his verbal request for help on August of 20 24.
0:25:31
As next step came to my brother, I never received a call from DOC or Bellevue to notify me that my brother was in his last days.
0:25:39
Just 3 months prior, I sat with my brother in upstate medical hop hospital and planned his return to New York City.
0:25:46
My brother had been acquitted of his charges and was told by his legal counsel that he would be granted the right to die peacefully with his family and hospice care.
0:26:03
We just had to make the transfer down down to the city.
0:26:07
Thank you.
0:26:08
I often question whether or not Roy would still be alive, how he state of state.
0:26:13
None of none of us could have prepared for what would happen next.
0:26:17
The next month following my brother's transfer, my family was constantly turned away from visits.
0:26:22
My oldest sister was told verbally by officers at Bellevue Hospital on 2 separate occasions that my brother had contracted COVID and needed to be quarantined.
0:26:30
We later discovered that he never had COVID.
0:26:33
Until this day, we have never been notified as to why we were denied visits from January to March of 2024.
0:26:41
On March 21st, That was the last time I saw my brother alive.
0:26:46
He was less than a £100, and he looked like he had not been bathed or cleaned in weeks, a man who was not able to move.
0:26:54
Unable to eat solid foods, I observed a food trail in his able full with meat, rice, and vegetables.
0:27:02
That made me wonder if they had been bringing him a trail food every day.
0:27:06
And when was the last time he got fed his insure?
0:27:10
Why wasn't he being why wasn't he on feeding tubes?
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If he was no longer able to eat.
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I I requested I'm sorry.
0:27:22
I requested an insurer that took over an hour to get and I had to wait another 45 minutes for a nurse to return with a straw.
0:27:31
How had he been eating or drinking if they do not have a straw in hand?
0:27:36
I fed my brother that insured and watched as he struggled to drink from a straw.
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He was too weak.
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As I coached my brothers to finish off his ensured drink, I prayed over him.
0:27:50
He couldn't tell me, but I knew my brother had experience saying worse than what.
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I could have ever imagined.
0:27:57
There was no doctor to consult with, and I was so confused as to why there was no communication about my brother's health declining so rapidly.
0:28:05
The least they could have done was contact to contacting me to notify me that my brother's condition had worsened.
0:28:12
It was like once he he was placed in DLC custody, all communication was cut.
0:28:17
And by the time anyone saw my brother again, he was unable to speak, eat, or move to explain what had happened.
0:28:24
And on the other type of man that my brother was, He would make the best of the worst of any situation and never give up on his faith no matter how bad it got.
0:28:35
Roy Savage was that man until the day he died.
0:28:39
City council passing intro 423 and 412 is how we transmute a very ugly situation into something honorable.
0:28:49
Every man deserves that right.
0:28:51
These bills could be the beginning of reminding DOC and CHS that people in jail are human beings with people who love them.
0:29:02
Demand in transparency is how you create solid solutions and hold people accountable shining a light to what changes need to occur.
0:29:09
Let's grant families the right to make decisions and be present for their loved ones.
0:29:14
Communicate so that so that there is an awareness of our family's well-being that is not too much to ask for.
0:29:20
It's actually inhumane to have it any other way.
0:29:24
The close wiper's movement is just the beginning of the work that would need that would be needed to put I'm sorry.
0:29:32
The close wiper's movement is just the beginning of the work that would need to be put back into our communities.
0:29:38
As we are forced to deal with these situations and just carry on with life.
0:29:42
The domino effect has impacted millions of New York City residents, and it's time to speak up.
0:29:48
Not just for my brother, but for all the people who did not deserve to die in such horrible conditions.
0:29:54
Thank you.
0:29:54
Thank
