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3 Rikers staff suspended after detainee dies in cell, NYC jail officials say
By
Paige Oamek
Published Aug 29, 2025
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(Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
By
Paige Oamek
Published Aug 29, 2025
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Three New York City Department of Correction staffers have been suspended following the latest detainee death at the Rikers Island jail complex, the agency said Friday.
Correction officers found 29-year-old Ardit Billa unresponsive in his cell at the George R. Vierno Center around 12:30 a.m. last Saturday, according to jail officials. The officers and medical personnel they called tried to revive him, officials said, but he was pronounced dead shortly before 1 a.m. — becoming the 10th Rikers detainee to die in or shortly after being released from DOC custody so far this year. That’s double the number for all of 2024, according to city data.
The correction department did not identify the suspended staff or their positions, and did not say how long their suspensions were expected to last. Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said her agency was investigating the incident.
A spokesperson for the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Friday it was still determining Billa’s cause of death. Jail and court records show he had been held at Rikers since February on a bench warrant related to assault and other charges.
The nonprofit Legal Aid Society, which represented Billa, called this week for a “swift, independent and impartial investigation” into his death. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.
Under a new city law that took effect this month, the jails agency is required to provide timely information about in-custody deaths to detainees’ families and attorneys. Billa’s aunt told the newsroom The City this week that the family was still searching for answers.
Tagged
Rikers Island
new york city
public safety
Paige Oamek
Paige Oamek is a reporter on Gothamist & WNYC's day-of general assignment desk.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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