Two people died on Rikers Island in the same afternoon following medical emergencies last Friday, June 20. They mark the sixth and seventh people to die in or immediately after New York Department of Corrections (DOC) custody this year.
Jail staff noticed Benjamin Kelly in medical distress during a routine walkthrough around 3 p.m. The 37-year-old Black New Yorker was pronounced dead half an hour later. Meanwhile, James Maldonado’s medical emergency occurred during transport to Rikers Island around 4:30 p.m. shortly after his arraignment. He was pronounced dead at 4:49 p.m. after staff attempted to aid him at the sally port of a Rikers Island jail.
New Yorker Benjamin Kelly experienced medical distress while housed at Rikers’ Eric M. Taylor Center (EMTC) jail while James Maldonado sustained a medical emergency during bus transport to the island, according to the DOC. Both men were pronounced dead within a two-hour span.
“The life of every single person in our care is valued and Friday was profoundly tragic for the department as two individuals lost their lives,” said DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies are with their loved ones. These incidents will be investigated thoroughly.”
The Legal Aid Society, which represented Maldonado, says his lawyers remain in the dark about details surrounding his death. The 56-year-old was entering custody for the first time after a hospital discharge, according to the DOC.
“Currently, we have received little information from DOC regarding the circumstances surrounding Mr. Maldonado’s death, which occurred shortly after his arraignment,” a Legal Aid spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Often, DOC fails to provide even the most basic details to counsel, the client’s family, or the public. This ongoing lack of transparency is unacceptable.
“We call for an immediate and independent investigation by the New York City Department of Investigation to ensure that both DOC and the New York City Police Department — where Mr. Maldonado spent the majority of his detention — are held accountable and provide answers to his loved ones and the public.”
Transportation from court appearances remains a key issue addressed by the city’s beleaguered attempts to replace Rikers Island with four borough-based jails located nearby (and overwhelmingly connected to) the city’s municipal courthouses by late summer 2027.
Earlier this month, councilmembers Carlina Rivera, Gale Brewer, Yusef Salaam, Shaun Abreu, Carmen De La Rosa and Diana Ayala signed a letter to Mayor Eric Adams calling for the Manhattan jail to be completed as soon as possible on the current plot next to the New York County Criminal Court in Chinatown.
“As it stands, the modern jail set to replace the Tombs will not open until 2032, five years after the legal deadline to close Rikers,” wrote the council members. “Any change would further delay and imperil the closure of Rikers, an outcome that is inconsistent with the law and our moral obligation as a city. The plan to close Rikers was passed into law because housing people who are awaiting trial on an island isolated from the courts and their communities, and amid dangerous conditions, is as wrong as it is inefficient.
“Implementing the plan to close Rikers, including making the necessary investments in prevention and diversion, will improve the safety and well-being of New York City residents and visitors.”
This letter follows reporting by the Amsterdam News of Chinatown advocates proposing the relocation of the Manhattan jail to a defunct federal facility a few blocks south in favor of an affordable housing structure on the current demolished lot.
While the city figures out how to meet the legally-required closure of Rikers Island, a federal receiver will be appointed later in the year to oversee city jails to ensure they comply with constitutional standards enforced by a class action lawsuit nearly a decade ago.
On the state level, a criminal justice reform “omnibus” bill passed and includes legislation bolstering the State Commission of Correction (SCOC), an independent watchdog agency with oversight powers over local jails across New York like those on Rikers Island.
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End global white European Caucasian male privilege.
God is the Leader or Guide
I am merely the messenger