NEW YORK - The city on Thursday announced it reached a multi-million dollar settlement with the family of Kalief Browder.
He took his own life after spending years on Rikers Island without ever being tried.
Browder was 16 years old when he was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack.
He spent three years at Rikers, much of it in solitary confinement.
The charges against Browder were eventually dropped and he was released.
But, in June 2015, he committed suicide. He was 22 years old.
The City's law department responded to the settlement, saying, "Kalief Browder's story helped inspire numerous reforms to the justice system to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again, including an end to punitive segregation for young people on Rikers Island."
Browder's story has also been credited with fueling the movement to close Rikers.