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2mo ago

Two More Inmates Die at Rikers Island as 2025 Death Toll Reaches Seven

The city’s federal receivership under Judge Laura Taylor Swain increases pressure to overhaul overcrowded unsafe conditions at Rikers Island

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FILE - The Rikers Island jail complex stands with the Manhattan skyline in the background on June 20, 2014, in New York. A new report finds widespread unsanitary conditions at Rikers Island. It comes as a federal judge is weighing a receivership for the notorious New York City jail complex. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
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Overview

  • Benjamin Kelly, 37, who faced petit larceny and trespassing charges and was held on $2,500 bail, was found in medical distress at the Eric M. Taylor Center intake and pronounced dead at 3:31 p.m. on June 20.
  • James Maldonado, 56, arrested two days earlier on robbery-related charges and held on $50,000 bond, suffered a medical emergency en route to Rikers Island and was declared dead at 4:49 p.m.
  • These deaths bring Rikers Island’s 2025 jail-connected fatality count to seven as its population climbs to 7,562, marking a 39 percent increase since January 2022.
  • Last month’s federal receivership order came after Judge Swain found the city in contempt for failing to address violence and unsafe conditions throughout the jail complex.
  • Councilwoman Sandy Nurse and advocacy group Freedom Agenda have urged urgent reforms and accelerated community jail development to meet the 2027 closure mandate and prevent further tragedies.