An incarcerated man died at the Rikers Island jail complex early Tuesday morning. It was the eighth death in the jail system this year.
The detainee, Donny Ubiera, 33, who had been held since last June, was found unresponsive in his cell, according to the Department of Correction and internal records obtained by The New York Times.
Long besieged by a multitude of problems, Rikers Island and the city’s other jail facilities have been engulfed in violence and disorder since 2020, when an outbreak of Covid among correction officers hurt morale and led to chronic staff absenteeism. With so few guards showing up for work, some detainees have been forced to go without food or medical care.
Nineteen people died in city jails in 2022 even as officials rushed to implement reforms to stave off the threat of a federal court takeover.
Mayor Eric Adams and his jails commissioner, Louis A. Molina, have vowed to enact a reform plan that was ordered and approved last year by a federal judge. But lawyers for the incarcerated have said that the city is incapable of keeping detainees safe, and they have called for an outside official to take control of the jails. In July, they were joined by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, who said that an outside authority was necessary to prevent harm to those in the city’s custody as well as jail staff members.
In August, the judge presiding over the case smoothed the way for control of the jails to be stripped from New York City. Judge Laura T. Swain agreed to allow federal prosecutors and lawyers for detainees to argue that an outside authority, known as a receiver, should take over Rikers Island.
She said the city had not shown it was willing or able to keep people in custody safe. “The people incarcerated at Rikers are at a grave risk of immediate harm,” she said. Still, any such decision could be months away and would follow a series of hearings.
A federal monitor who reports to the judge said in a report this year that there was reason to doubt the Department of Correction had been accurately reporting the number of deaths in city jails.
Under Mr. Molina, the department has ended its previous practice of informing the media when a death in custody occurs and made it more difficult for the Board of Correction, an oversight panel, to access video and other information from the jails.
The following list of those who have died after being held in the jail system since 2022 was drawn from Correction Department records and interviews with city officials, and lawyers and friends and family members of the deceased. It shows that most of those who died were men and that overwhelmingly they were Black or Hispanic, reflecting the population at Rikers.
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Aug. 22, 2023 — Donny Ubiera
Race: Other
Sex: Male
Cause of death: Unknown
Jail: George R. Vierno Center
Arrest date: June 11, 2022
Mr. Ubiera was found unconscious in his cell in a mental observation unit in the George R. Vierno Center at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday, according to internal jail records. Officers administered Narcan and used a defibrillator, records show, but could not revive him.
According to court records, Mr. Ubiera was charged last year with attempted murder and assault for stabbing and slashing two people on a Queens subway platform and striking a third person with a slab of wood.
He was found to be mentally unfit and sent to a state forensic psychiatric hospital, where he received treatment before being transferred back to Rikers Island in March, according to people with knowledge of the case. He pleaded guilty to the charges on Aug. 18 and was scheduled to be sentenced next month.
“Close scrutiny should be paid to whether correctional staff and supervisors were actively engaged in supervising the housing area and conducting required tours,” the Legal Aid Society, which represented Mr. Ubiera, said in a statement. “The federal monitor has found that staff and supervisors’ chronic failure to perform basic custodial duties has been a factor in many of the recent deaths.”
July 23, 2023 — Curtis Davis
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Cause of death: Unknown
Jail: George R. Vierno Center
Arrest date: June 1, 2023
An officer found Mr. Davis, 44, on the floor of his cell shortly after 5 a.m. on Sunday, according to internal jail records. Officers performed chest compressions, and six minutes later medical staff arrived to assist. Emergency medical responders showed up minutes later and used a chest compression device, but Mr. Davis was still unresponsive, the records show. An urgent care doctor pronounced Mr. Davis dead shortly before 6 a.m.
Mr. Davis had been held at the jail since June
1, after being arrested on charges of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, according to court records. Friends and relatives of Mr. Davis said he had been experiencing mental health problems for years and had cycled in and out of the jail system.
His sister, Angela Davis, 38, said that her brother had been placed in a mental observation unit after he had been acting erratically. She said she had spoken to him on the phone hours before he died, and he had sounded distraught and said he felt unsafe in the jail. Ms. Davis said she had called the jail’s mental health unit to express her concerns.
“If they would have listened to me, he would still be alive,” she said. “He needed help.”
Mr. Davis’s death was being investigated by the city’s medical examiner’s office, a spokesman said.
May 29, 2023 — Jaleel Christmas
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Cause of death: Unknown
Jail: Anna M. Kross Center
Arrest date: May 15, 2023
Mr. Christmas, 40, was found unresponsive in his cell shortly after 2 a.m. on May 29, according to jail records. Officers administered Narcan and used a defibrillator to try to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at 2:53 a.m.
Mr. Christmas had been held at the jail since May 15, after he was arrested on charges of assault, resisting arrest and harassment, according to court records. He had been in and out of jail since he was a teenager, his mother said. She said that her son had long struggled with mental illness and addiction but that he had been improving in the months before his arrest and death. “He was doing better,” she said. “He was my baby.”
Mr. Christmas was one of three detainees who died in the same week. At the time, a City Hall spokeswoman, Avery Cohen, said in a statement, “This is a tragedy, and our hearts go out to their loved ones. We are working to get to the bottom of this and ensure nothing like this happens again.”
A city investigation into his death was continuing, a city official said.
May 27, 2023 — Gean Jimenez
Race: Hispanic
Sex: Male
Cause of death: Unknown
Jail: Eric M. Taylor Center
Arrest date: March 21, 2023
Mr. Jimenez, 31, was found unconscious in his cell at 5:17 a.m. on May 27, according to jail records. Officers administered Narcan and used a defibrillator, and he was transported to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:40 a.m., the records show.
Mr. Jimenez had been arrested on charges of attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and assault after he was accused of stabbing two men in the chest in the Bronx, according to court records. A city official said the charges were pending at the time of his death.
He had been held at the jail since March 21. “I just lost my baby,” his mother, Patricia Jimenez, said. “I want to know what happened. I want answers.”
A city investigation into his death was continuing, a city official said.
May 22, 2023 — Jose Molina
Race: Hispanic
Sex: Male
Cause of death: Unknown
Jail: George R. Vierno Center
Arrest date: March 25, 2023
Mr. Molina, 33, was found unresponsive in his cell at 12:46 a.m. on May 22, according to jail records. Officers administered Narcan and used a defibrillator, but he was pronounced dead at 1:12 a.m. He had been arrested on charges of assault and criminal contempt, according to court records.
Mr. Molina had been held at the jail since March 25. A city official said the charges were pending at the time of his death.
His mother, Zoraida Lopez, said her son had been a talented artist who loved to draw since he was a child. She said she did not know many details about her son’s death, and she was struggling to understand what had happened.
“I’m lost, I’m in a daze,” she said. “I want to know why my son died.”
A city investigation into his death was continuing, a city official said.
April 9, 2023 — Alexander Baez
Race: Hispanic
Sex: Male
Cause of death: Unknown
Jail: Robert N. Davoren Complex
Arrest date: April 4, 2023
Mr. Baez, 41, was found unconscious in his cell at 12:47 p.m. on April 9, according to jail records. Officers administered Narcan and used a defibrillator, and he was transported to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:06 p.m., the records show. He had been arrested on charges of assault, harassment and criminal mischief, according to court records. The charges were pending at the time of his death.
Mr. Baez had been held at the jail since April 4. He was married and the father of three children, his wife, Jessica Carrasquillo, said. “I just want answers,” she said. “What happened to my husband?”
A city investigation into his death was continuing, a city official said.
April 2, 2023 — Kendrick Craig
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Cause of death: Unknown
Jail: Anna M. Kross Center
Arrest date: March 15, 2023
Mr. Craig, 45, was found unconscious in his cell at 4:40 a.m. on April 2, according to jail records. Officers administered Narcan and used a defibrillator, and he was pronounced dead at 5:07 a.m., the records show.
He had been arrested on charges of robbery, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, according to court records. A city official said the charges were pending at the time of his death.
Mr. Craig had been held at the jail since March 15. Friends and relatives said that he had struggled with mental illness for years and that he had been in and out of the jail system for much of his adult life. They described him as a gifted musician who had been working on an album while he was incarcerated.
His sister, Kiara Craig, said she had spoken to him on the phone the day before he died and that he had seemed fine. “We just talked about normal stuff,” she said. “He was coming home soon.”
A city investigation into his death was continuing, a city official said.
