Three employees members have been suspended after the loss of life of an inmate at Rikers Island this week, authorities stated Wednesday.
Michael Nieves, 40, who had been in custody since June on the Anna M. Kross Middle on Rikers Island on a first-degree housebreaking cost, died Tuesday at Elmhurst Hospital, based on the New York Metropolis Division of Correction.
No further particulars about Nieves’ loss of life have been publicly launched.
“Shedding a beloved one who’s incarcerated is traumatic, and we ship our deepest condolences to Mr. Nieves’ household and all these he held pricey,” Division of Correction Commissioner Louis A. Molina stated. “A preliminary evaluate of this incident required we take quick motion and droop three uniform employees members. Any loss of life in custody is a tragedy, and we will probably be investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident.”
The workers haven’t been publicly recognized.
The New York Times reported that Nieves was mentally in poor health and slit his throat with a razor on the jail final week. The newspaper additionally reported two correction officers and a captain didn’t act for a minimum of 10 minutes.
Nieves was the twelfth inmate to die within the custody of the Division of Correction in 2022, officers stated.
New York Metropolis Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Comptroller Brad Lander stated in a joint statement that critical allegations have beforehand been made towards division of correction staff concerning an inmate’s loss of life.
In addition they stated Nieves’ loss of life marks the thirteenth in metropolis custody this 12 months, disputing the Division of Correction determine.
“This isn’t the primary time that officers stood by passively throughout a suicide try. Whereas some corrections employees are working intensely to enhance well being and security on the island, others are actively undermining these efforts,” the assertion stated.
The assertion added, “Our go to to Rikers earlier this week made clear to us that, regardless of some enhancements from the nightmare we witnessed on the island a 12 months in the past, clearly circumstances for folks on either side of the bars are neither protected nor sustainable.”
Williams and Lander referred to as for metropolis officers to “renew and expedite its efforts to shut the jail amenities at Rikers.”
In August, Dr. Ricardo Cruciani, 68, a New York-area neurologist who was convicted in July of sexually assaulting his patients, died in an obvious suicide within the Rikers Island jail complicated, his legal professional and prosecutors stated.
