The Rikers Island jail complex.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File
Rikers Island saw another detainee death on Friday — the second in-custody fatality on the city’s primary correctional facility in the first 19 days of 2024.
According to the Correction Department, the unidentified inmate was found unconscious and unresponsive in his cell at the George R. Vierno Center at about 8:47 p.m. on Jan. 19. The Vierno Center houses “detained and sentenced male adults,” the agency noted.
“Medical staff were notified and they responded to provide emergency medical care to the individual,” the Correction Department said in a statement. “Additional medical professionals responded and provided aid, but sadly, the individual was pronounced dead.”
The Correction Department did not release the detainee’s identity, pending family notification. The agency said it is notifying the federal monitor overseeing Rikers Island, as well as the Offices of State Attorney General Letitia James, the Board of Correction, the State Commission of Correction and the Office of the city’s Chief Medical Examiner.
“On behalf of the New York City Department of Correction, we extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the deceased,” said Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddle in a statement. “We are conducting a full investigation into this tragic event.”
The agency also said it would conduct a full investigation into the inmate death, and “cooperate with all outside investigative entities.”
Earlier this month, another detainee, identified as 43-year-old Chima Williams, died on Jan. 4 during a pickup basketball game at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers Island. His death was the first reported fatality on Rikers in 2024.
Since January 2022, 28 people have died while in custody on Rikers Island — a startling number that has fueled calls for both the long-term closure of Rikers Island, as well as a federal takeover while it remains in operation.
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