Inmate dies of apparent seizure at Rikers Island – fifth death in city custody in less than 2 weeks

An inmate died of an apparent seizure at Rikers Island this week – marking the fifth death in city custody in less than two weeks and the 11th at Rikers this year, officials said. 

The man, whose name had not been released by Friday, was “experiencing what appeared to be a seizure” at the George R. Vierno Center around 7:50 p.m. Wednesday, according to the city’s Department of Correction.

Officers responded, as well as doctors and EMS workers, but the detainee could not be revived and was officially pronounced dead at 8:35 p.m.

“The Department has tragically lost a person in our custody,” DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement. “We share our deepest sympathies with his loved ones. Every aspect of this incident will be investigated.” 

The DOC said it 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 Chief Medical Examiner and the city’s district attorneys of the death.

The latest inmate fatality came just four days after 44-year-old Jimmy Avila – accused of killing his Bronx building’s superintendent – died in custody inside Rikers’ West Facility.

Exactly a week earlier, Ardit Billa, 29, who was being held for burglary, was found “unresponsive” in his lockup by officers conducting routine tours at the George R. Vierno Center.

Last Friday, Musa Cetin, 29 — a pedicab driver in custody for operating without a license — died by apparent suicide at the NYPD’s Midtown South precinct station house. 

Hours later, Christopher Nieves, 46, also died of an apparent heart attack inside a holding cell at Kings County Criminal Court on Schermerhorn Street near State Street in downtown Brooklyn.