Another Rikers Island death: Inmate ‘appears unwell’ in jail cell, becomes 14th to die in custody this year

Another inmate at Rikers Island died early on Sunday morning after feeling sick inside his cell at the Otis Bantam Correctional Center, NYC Department of Correction (DOC) officials said.

The man was the 14th inmate to die in DOC custody this year.

According to the DOC, at around 2 a.m. on Dec. 7, an officer who was conducting his tour found the man in his cell who “appeared unwell.” The officer then activated a medical emergency, prompting medical staff to render aid. EMS rushed there to provide additional help, DOC explained.

Paramedics raced the man to Mount Sinai Queens Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly later at 3:15 a.m. Sunday.

As of Nov. 21, there had been 13 Rikers-linked deaths this year, according to the Vera Institute of Justice , a nonprofit whose mission includes “fighting to end mass incarceration.”

“The department is mourning the tragic death of an individual in our custody. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family,” NYC Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement. “The safety of everyone in our care is always our foremost concern, and we will fully investigate this tragedy.”

DOC officials stated that, as required by law, the agency notified the Federal Monitor, the Board of Correction, the State Attorney General’s Office, the City Department of Investigation, the State Commission of Correction, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and district attorneys.

A DOC spokesperson told amNewYork the department has “no further information” on the incident, including the name of the inmate, how he died and why he was in custody.

Meanwhile, Darren Mack, co-director of the Urban Justice Center’s Freedom Agenda, shared a statement with amNewYork about the inmate’s death.

“Prayers and condolences to yet another family mourning the loss of their loved one on Rikers Island. Fourty-seventh death in DOC custody since Mayor Adams took office,” he said. “This is the outcome of an administration that has chosen incarceration as a solution to every social problem such as mental health, homelessness, and more, in our city. That is the legacy of Eric Adams.”

The investigation remains ongoing.

Previously, among the deaths on Rikers reported this year, a man died in custody on Sept. 3 after suffering what appeared to be a seizure, DOC officials reported.

That death followed a string of deaths at the facility that occurred close together, as well as a shocking pair of deaths in June, when two people died in custody within about an hour of each other.