Saniyah Cheatham is said to have hanged herself early Saturday after she was arrested in an assault case. Friends said she had been in good spirits a day before.
The Police Department is investigating the death of an 18-year-old woman in a cell at a Bronx police precinct early Saturday, the authorities said on Monday.
The woman, Saniyah Cheatham, who had been arrested on Friday in an assault, was found unconscious just after 12:30 a.m. at the station house of the 41st Police Precinct in the Longwood neighborhood of the Bronx, the police said.
How Ms. Cheatham died is unclear. Julie Bolcer, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, said an autopsy was performed on Sunday, and a cause of death is pending.
But according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to speak about the case, Ms. Cheatham was inside her cell when, around 12:15 a.m., she hanged herself with her sweater.
The department’s Force Investigation Division is investigating the incident, the police said.
Ms. Cheatham’s friends were stunned, saying that she appeared to be in good spirits on Friday morning before attending a Fourth of July family barbecue in the Bronx.
Her close friend, Ember Baez, 20, said she texted with Ms. Cheatham on July 4, and nothing seemed amiss.
