TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains information about suicide, which may be triggering to some.
In 2012, a court convicted Manuela Morgado of killing her 4-year-old son. The mother smothered Jason “Jake” Reish with a pillow during a custody dispute and then tried to overdose herself but survived. A judge sentenced her to 20 years to life in prison in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. She was serving her sentence at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility when she was found dead in her cell on March 4, 2026.
Someone found Morgado unresponsive in her cell around 2 a.m., the Journal News reported. Pamela Smart, who spent time incarcerated with Morgado, told New York Focus she watched her friend die.
“I watched the whole heartbreaking thing, but there was nothing they could do. … I will never forget how blue her feet were,” she said via the prison messaging service.
Vanessa Santiageo, canvasser with the Release Aging People in Prison campaign, spent 22 years at that correctional facility. She knew Morgado and told New York Focus that if her friend died by suicide, she would understand why.
“It’s very hard to keep your sanity when every little thing is scrutinized, and it feels like you’re being punished for every little thing,” she explained.
Kelly Harnett, who also knew Morgado, shared her thoughts in a Facebook post.
“I just want everyone to know that today is an extremely sad day for the women from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. I woke up this morning to the grueling news that my former best friend, who was still incarcerated, took her life last night! My friend’s name is Mannie Morgado and she will be forever missed! Honestly, I am still in shock,” she wrote.
“Mannie’s full name is Manuela Morgado, and she got me through the roughest times of my incarceration,” she added in her post. “I am absolutely heartbroken. I am asking everyone to please pray for Mannie. My heart goes out to her family!”
