Patient at psychiatric hospital found dead, NY cops say. Murder investigation underway

A 28-year-old man’s death at a New York City psychiatric hospital is being treated as a homicide, police said.

Shakim Devega was found unconscious at the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn shortly before noon on Tuesday, Sept. 20, according to the New York Daily News. First responders rushed Devega to a hospital less than a mile away, where he was pronounced dead.

He died from “sustained trauma to the neck and neck area,” police told the outlet on Sept. 23.

Neither the New York City Police Department nor the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center responded to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

Devega was convincted of sexually abusing a 6-year-old child in 2019, according to state records, and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

He was released in 2021 after serving two years in prison, according to the New York Daily News.

Devega was a patient at the Kingsboro Psychiatric Hospital at the time of death, according to News 12.

A representative for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner said on Sept. 23 that they had not yet determined how Devega died, according to PIX11.

The case is being investigated as a homicide, according to the New York Post.

Kingsboro Pyschiatric Center offers both inpatient and outpatient care for adults aged 18 and older and provides “comprehensive, integrated services 24 hours per day for hospitalized patients,” according to their website.

A purported hospital resident was killed earlier this year after being struck by a car in Manhattan, according to the West Side Rag.

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