Last Friday (July 1), disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was placed on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. At the time, his attorney Jennifer Bonjean said her client was not suicidal. “The irony of putting someone on suicide watch when they’re not suicidal is it actually causes more harm,” she said. Kelly seemed to agree because he later sued the facility. The singer claimed his constitutional rights were violated, which caused him “severe mental distress.”
Today (July 5), he is no longer on suicide watch, according to court filings. Prosecutors announced, “Following a clinical assessment, Plaintiff Robert Sylvester Kelly, also known as ‘R. Kelly’ was removed from suicide watch as of this morning, July 5, 2022.” In statements from last week, Bonjean argued, “Mr. Kelly was placed on suicide watch for purely punitive reasons in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights.” She continued, “MDC Brooklyn is being run like a gulag. My partner and I spoke with Mr. Kelly following his sentencing, he expressed that he was mentally fine and ONLY expressed concern that even though he was NOT suicidal, MDC would place him on suicide watch.” Heriberto H. Tellez, a warden at the facility, was named in the lawsuit. Tellez said Kelly’s “emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction is now moot.”
Kelly is convicted of sex trafficking, racketeering, kidnapping, sexual misconduct, bribery and sexual exploitation of a child. His patterns of abuse have reportedly gone on for three decades. Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York accused the “Trapped in the Closet” singer of using a “network of people at his disposal to target girls, boys and young women for his own sexual gratification.” Although Kelly is in a New York prison, the New York Post says the artist faces additional charges in Illinois. He will reportedly be transferred to that state to stand trial soon.