Venida Browder, Mother of Kalief Browder Dies

It is possible to die of a broken heart.

Venida Browder died this past Friday at St.Barnabas Hospital in New York due to complications stemming from a heart attack. Ms. Browder was the mother to Kalief Browder, a 22-year-old man who hung himself after spending three horrific years in Rikers Island without ever being convicted. Due to the circumstances surrounding the case, Mr. Browder's story has gained national attention from everyone from Supreme Court judges to Rosie O’Donnell who invited him on "The View" and over her house. More recently, Jayz announced earlier this month that he's producing a six-part documentary on Kalief’s life.

*Jay Z announcing the new documentary series, “Time: The Kalief Browder Story,” in New York on Thursday. Via LARRY BUSACCA/GETTY IMAGES FOR SPIKE*

The Backstory. In the spring of 2010, Kalief was just 16 when he was jailed after another teen accused him of robbing him of his backpack.

His family couldn't make the $3,000 bail, so he spent three years in Rikers waiting for a trial that never happened. During that time, he endured about two years in solitary confinement, where he attempted to end his life several times. Once, in February 2012, he ripped his bedsheet into strips, tied them together to create a noose, and tried to hang himself from the light fixture in his cell. He endured beatings by guards and inmates and spent 400 days total in solitary confinement before the charges against him were ultimately dropped.

An Inside Look. Chilling video footage shows Browder being slammed to the floor by a correction officer taking him from cell to a shower on Sept. 23, 2012, after Browder appears to say something to the guard.

Browder told the New Yorker magazine he was given extra days in solitary after the guard told correction officials the teen had tried to run away.

“After that happened, to be honest, I was scared to come out of my cell to get in the shower again,” Kalief told the magazine.

More footage shows Browder being beaten by about 10 other teen inmates in a jaw-dropping fight on Oct. 20, 2010.

In November of 2013, six months after he left Rikers, Browder attempted suicide again. This time, he tried to hang himself at home, from a bannister, and he was taken to the psychiatric ward at St. Barnabas Hospital, not far from his home, in the Bronx.

During this time, Kalief also enrolled at Bronx Community College, but suffered bouts with depression that triggered other suicide attempts. This on top off his paranoia prevented him from completing his studies.

In June 2015, Kalief attempted suicide again when he hanged himself with an air conditioning cord in his Bronx home, but this would be his last time, he died that day. He was only 22.

The night before his suicide, Browder told his mother, “Ma, I can’t take it anymore.”

His case prompted Mayor de Blasio to reform the scandal-plagued city jail to stop solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-old inmates.