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Another Rikers detainee dies, marking 8th death in DOC custody this year
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Aug 22, 2023
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By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Aug 22, 2023
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Donny Ubiera, a Rikers Island detainee, died in the custody of the New York City Department of Correction in the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to his attorneys and city officials.
Officials found Ubiera, 33, unresponsive around 5:15 a.m. Tuesday in his cell at the George R. Vierno Center, correction spokesperson Annais Morales said on Tuesday.
Ubiera received medical care soon after he was found, but was pronounced dead before 6 a.m. He was the eighth person to die in the custody of the city corrections department this year, according to the Legal Aid Society, which represented him.
“Mr. Ubiera’s family deserves immediate answers from DOC and jail medical staff on the circumstances that led to his death,” said Redmond Haskins, a spokesperson for Legal Aid, in a statement on Tuesday. “All too often, our client’s loved ones are deprived of even the most basic information following the passing of a relative.”
Legal Aid is demanding an investigation into the events that led to his death. Correction officials said the cause of death remains unknown. The city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Ubiera had a sentencing hearing scheduled for Sept. 22, according to court records that show he was in custody related to murder and weapons charges. He has been in the agency’s custody since March, and next of kin have been notified about his death, Morales said.
“All notifications have been made to the federal monitor, the state attorney general, the Department of Investigation, the Board of Correction, the state Commission of Correction, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner,” Morales said in a statement.
The Adams administration is currently fighting a federal takeover of Rikers Island, which has for years faced scrutiny over mismanagement of the jails and conditions faced by detainees that advocates have decried as inhumane. Some high-ranking officials, including Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and city Comptroller Brad Lander, have called for a transfer into federal control.
Legal Aid said there should be “close scrutiny” around whether the correction department was actively supervising the housing area where Ubiera was found.
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Michelle Bocanegra
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