The Essex County Prosecutor's Office has opened a criminal investigation into the death of a 41-year-old inmate at the county jail last August, WNYC has learned.

The probe is looking at "indications of neglect and record falsification" in the death of Lucas Vieira, who was being held on a parole violation, according to a report on the incident obtained under the state's open records law. 

The case echoes the findings of a WNYC investigation last year about the high rate of inmate deaths in New Jersey's county jails, and it calls into question the effectiveness of the Murphy Administration's promise to increase oversight of the facilities. 

Vieira, who lived in Newark, was struggling with mental illness and drug addiction when he died at the jail. A lawsuit filed last month by his brother alleges that jail officers failed to provide him proper medical care. The lawsuit says Vieira was somehow able to hang himself while restrained in a device characterized as a straitjacket.

The death was not reported at the time. Following the filing of the lawsuit, WNYC submitted a public records request with the department asking for the "morbidity review" required after every suicide under new guidelines issued in December in response to the WNYC investigation. 

A records custodian initially told WNYC that no such document existed, despite the fact that the new guidelines were said to have been in place for three months. Then, earlier this week, the custodian sent WNYC a related document — a death notification. The "method of suicide/death" section of the form was redacted, but a note underneath revealed the criminal investigation into the matter by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. 

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said all deaths at the jail are investigated, but she said she couldn't comment more because the probe is still active. 

The death notification document was signed by the director of the correctional facility, Alfaro Ortiz, and dated April 4 — two days after WNYC submitted the request for documents, and almost eight months after the actual death of Vieira. According to state law, county jail officials have three days from the time of death to file such a report.

A spokesman for Marcus Hicks, acting commissioner for the Department of Corrections, said he was unable to respond to questions Thursday due to the department's budget hearing before the state senate. He said he would address questions on Friday regarding why the state did not force the county to submit the notification following the death or after the death became public last month. 

A spokesman for Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, who oversees the jail, downplayed the existence of the criminal investigation. "Whenever there is a suspected suicide, the Prosecutor’s Office conducts an investigation," spokesman Anthony Puglisi said. Officials did not respond to questions about why the investigation is still open eight months after the death, and cited the Vieira family lawsuit as the reason for not being able to comment further.

The family's attorney, Hillary Nappi, said that Vieira was on suicide watch when he died. "If Mr. Vieira was clearly in a situation that he was presenting the utmost danger to himself or someone else, he should've been monitored very closely so he wouldn't be able to successfully complete a suicide attempt," she said.

The lawsuit names CFG Health Systems, a South Jersey-based for-profit contractor that runs the health system at the jail. The company lost its contract at the Hudson County Jail last year after six inmates died there in less than a year's time. CFG did not respond to a request for comment.

WNYC's investigation into jail deaths last year found that determining the number of deaths at New Jersey jails is difficult because the reporting requirements are so lax. In some counties, the monthly death numbers in state inspection reports didn't even add up to the yearly totals in the same reports.

Three weeks ago, a 25-year-old man named Jose Recoba-Morales also died at the Essex jail in Newark. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman said that death is under investigation as officials await toxicology reports to determine a cause of death.

A source in county government said Recoba-Morales was believed to have died of natural causes, and his death notification filed with the state did not indicate a criminal investigation.