Nearly three years later, the emotion is still raw for Madeline Feliciano.

"It’s just horrific," Feliciano said. "I’m angry."

In November of 2019, her grandson, Nicolas, tried to hang himself while incarcerated at Rikers Island.

According to a Board of Correction’s review, video shows Nicolas Feliciano hanging for seven minutes and 51 seconds, as more than six correction officers stood by without intervening.

On Monday, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark brought felony charges against four of those guards for reckless endangerment and official misconduct.

All four pleaded not guilty and were released without bail.

After the initial incident in 2019, the four guards were suspended for 30 days without pay, then went back to work.

Two of them resigned in February of this year.

The DOC on Monday said that as for the other two, one will be suspended and the other will be put on modified duty, which means he will collect a paycheck but have no contact with inmates.

That’s because he’s a captain, and per his union contract, captains can’t be suspended twice for the same incident.

This was the first time since 2019 that Clark brought charges against correction officials.

"I see the video myself, and I see what they did and I have no doubt in my mind that’s what they had done," Feliciano said. "Even though these officers are going to get charged, my Nicolas will never be the same."

Nicolas Feliciano suffered severe brain damage as a result of the attempted suicide.

He was in a coma for weeks after.

Now, nearly three years later, he’s still hospitalized.

"He is in rehab. He needs around the clock medical care, and likely will for the rest of his life," said David Rankin, the attorney for the Felicianos.

Madeline Feliciano says the DOC knew about her grandson's history with depression.

"They knew he had mental issues, and they knew that he was suicidal and he didn’t belong there. They didn’t give him the proper care that he needed: medical care, mental health care," Feliciano said.

The Correction Officers Benevolent Association released a statement Monday.

"Today’s indictment of our officers, stemming from an incident that occurred over three years ago, is further evidence that this case is being driven more by politics than by facts," the statement read.

"We will vigorously defend the rights of these officers and believe they will be exonerated of any alleged wrongdoing," the statement continued.

Meanwhile, calls to shut down Rikers Island are only getting louder.

So far this year, there have been 11 inmate deaths in Rikers, two of them by suicide.

In 2021, there were 16 inmate deaths, six of them by suicide.

Rankin says Monday’s charges are a step in the right direction, but nowhere near enough.

"What we need to see is the guards who are at Rikers Island not performing their duties, putting people at risk, bare the risk that they’re going to find themselves up here in this building criminally charged," Rankin said.

Rankin and others are hoping for systemic changes.

"Not one more death at Rikers Island, and not one more Nicolas Feliciano," Rankin said.