Daniel Prude biography: 13 things about Chicago, Illinois man

Daniel T. Prude was an American man who suffered from mental health issues. His nickname was Rell.

Before Prude’s death, he made suicidal threats and was taken into custody on a mental health arrest. He had a clinical history of agitation, combative behavior and suicidal ideation and possible auditory hallucinations and paranoia, according to his autopsy report.

Who was Daniel Prude?

A resident of Chicago, Illinois, USA, Prude previously lived in Bellwood, Illinois. He was a warehouse worker.

Prude was 5’10” tall and weighed 230 pounds. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. His sister Tameshay Notasha Prude and their father Joe Louis Cole live in Chicago.
2. His older brother Joseph “Joe” D. Prude live in Rochester, New York, USA.
3. He has five children.
4. In 2002, his daughter Tashyra Prude was born.
5. On September 20, 2019, he turned 41.
6. On March 21, 2020, he called his aunt Letoria Moore. She told NBC Chicago that he was “the normal Rell” that she knew and she did not know “what was the situation, why he was going through what he was going through that night” but he “didn’t deserve to be killed by the police.”
7. On March 22, 2020, he arrived in Rochester from Chicago via an Amtrak train. He was kicked off the train for smoking, picked up at a shelter in Buffalo, New York around noon and brought to Joe’s home in Rochester. As soon as he arrived in the house, he jumped headfirst down a flight of stair. On the same day, he received a mental health evaluation at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester and was released at 11:00 p.m.
8. In the early morning of March 23, 2020, he suffered an acute, manic, psychotic episode at Joe’s residence in Rochester. Seven Rochester Police Department officers responded to the scene. That morning, his heartbeat resumed while he was being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital. He was brain dead when he arrived at the hospital.
9. On March 30, 2020, he was taken off like support.
10. On April 22, 2020, Monroe County medical examiner Dr. Nadia Granger issued a report ruling his death a homicide as a result of “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.” Excited delirium and acute intoxication by phencyclidine (PCP) were listed as contributing factors.
11. A grand jury voted not to indict any officers in his death. On February 23, 2021, New York attorney general Letitia James said there was sufficient evidence surrounding his death to warrant presenting the case to a grand jury.
12. On October 6, 2022, the city of Rochester agreed to pay his five children $12 million. 
13. On March 23, 2024, a vigil was held in his memory by advocates pushing to enact Daniel’s Law, which is intended to minimize the role of law enforcement and push for mental health teams in New York.