The man who died after becoming trapped at the bottom of a Somerville MBTA escalator was strangled by his own clothing, according to a death certificate that documents the harrowing final moments of a 40-year-old father of two. Steven McCluskey, of South Boston, succumbed to “hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy following asphyxia by strangulation” after he fell shortly before 5 a.m. on Feb. 27, 2026, at the Davis Square station — as a procession of early morning commuters walked past him and, in most cases, did nothing.
The medical examiner’s ruling, detailed in records made public this month, describes an injury to the brain resulting from oxygen deprivation and inadequate blood supply. The Cleveland Clinic defines the encephalopathy as exactly that: damage that follows when the brain is starved of blood and air. In McCluskey’s case, the culprit was the clothing that lodged in the escalator’s moving steps as he lay pinned at the bottom.
A Fall and a Fatal Trap
McCluskey stepped onto the escalator wearing a black jacket over a light-colored hoodie, gripping the left rail as a small bag dangled from his wrist. At the bottom, he lost his balance and fell abruptly, and his jacket became caught in the machinery. Surveillance footage obtained through a public records request shows him struggling to free himself, his movements fading after a minute or so. He came to rest on his back as the escalator kept running, lying virtually motionless for several minutes.
Dr. Knarik Arkun, director of neuropathology and autopsy service at Tufts Medical Center, said the mechanics of such a death leave a victim almost powerless. She compared it to a string pulled tight around the neck, with little a person can do to resist. The longer the brain goes without oxygen, she said, the harder recovery becomes.
The timeline captured on video is difficult to absorb. McCluskey lay at the bottom of the escalator for about 20 minutes before anyone called for help. During that stretch, several patrons descended a parallel staircase; some glanced toward him. One person appeared to try to help free him for a moment before continuing into the station. Only one patron made a real effort, briefly pulling on him. No one hit an emergency button to stop the conveyance.
A Delayed Response
Police received a call about the subway stop at approximately 5:19 a.m. regarding a man trapped beneath an escalator. Transit and Somerville police found McCluskey pinned at the bottom — unresponsive, bare-chested, his clothing tightly wedged into the steps. An officer wrote in a report that he checked for a pulse and found none, and that McCluskey’s shirt was constricting around his neck and compromising his airway. Firefighters administered a dose of Narcan, which produced a gurgling response, and removed the shirt to clear the airway obstruction. Following several cycles of CPR, McCluskey’s pulse returned.
The escalator remained running until 5:21 a.m., while emergency medical personnel arrived around 5:23 a.m. An MBTA employee did not activate the emergency stop button for over 20 minutes. McCluskey was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he died several days later on March 9.
His sister, Shannon Flaherty, 20, the youngest of McCluskey’s six siblings, said watching the video shattered her view of others. In a May interview, she described seeing so many people walk by her brother as he lay in distress.
Flaherty told the Boston Globe she had never had such a lack of faith in humanity, calling the bystanders’ indifference despicable.
Flaherty called her brother her favorite person in the world. Two of his siblings predeceased him. A loving father to two young boys, he was a skilled carpenter who ran his own business and loved taking things apart to make them better.
Family Pushes Back on Speculation
In an interview with NBC10 Boston, Flaherty and her mother, Mary, watched the footage and shared that McCluskey had recently struggled with substance abuse. Tens of thousands of online comments followed, with many speculating he had died from a drug overdose. Flaherty said the ruling settles what happened regardless of the noise online.
“Nobody should be there for 18 minutes, unconscious, being strangled by their own clothes, not able to yell for help,” she said.
The case has also exposed broader gaps. Federal and state law requires the MBTA to notify authorities no later than two hours following an incident resulting in a death, but the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, which oversees safety at the T, did not learn of McCluskey’s death until an NBC10 Boston investigation prompted scrutiny. The agency now has an ongoing investigation, and the MBTA submitted a corrective action plan regarding the reporting of fatalities.
Records show more than 250 escalator injuries at MBTA stations from the start of 2025 through mid-May 2026, with 67 requiring transport for medical care. South Station logged 22 injuries and North Station 19, while Porter Square and Harvard Square each recorded five that sent riders to the hospital. In the aftermath, the MBTA began running public service messages inside stations warning about clothing getting caught in escalators and pointing riders to emergency stop buttons.