NEW YORK.- An inmate died on Rikers Island early Tuesday morning, becoming the eighth detainee to die in custody this year, the New York City Department of Corrections confirmed.
Donny Ubiera, 33, was found unresponsive in his cell, and despite receiving immediate medical attention, he was pronounced deceased.
Ubiera had been in Department of Corrections (DOC) custody since March, facing charges of attempted murder and assault.
The cause of Ubiera’s death is currently under investigation, raising questions about medical care and detention conditions at the facility.
Deaths of inmates cause questions to the penal system
Earlier this month, a federal judge began hearing arguments about whether control of Rikers Island should be transferred from the city to federal administration.
“We demand a thorough investigation and that DOC inform the family and attorney of any findings at every stage of the process,” the Legal Aid Society stated.
“Special attention should be paid to whether correctional staff and supervisors were actively engaged in monitoring the housing area and conducting required tours. The federal monitor has found that the chronic failure of staff and supervisors to comply with the basic custodial duties has been a factor in many of the recent deaths. We look forward to an immediate DOC response to this tragic event,” the agency said in a statement.
The series of inmate deaths in custody has raised questions about prison system and management in New York City, urging further review and steps to ensure the safety and well-being of inmates.
It may interest you:
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
1/8
Rikers Island is an island located in the East River next to the La Guardia airport. It is the main prison complex in New York, as it houses 10 prisons in which men, women and adolescents are locked up. It even has its own power generation plant. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
Credit: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
2/8
Some 7,300 inmates spend their days at the prison complex, according to Department of Correction data. Earlier in the year, Mayor Di Blasio announced its closure and, this Thursday, reported that he will allocate an additional 30 million dollars to it. The plan will take at least three years since the other prisons in the city have a capacity for just 2,300 inmates. (Seth Wenig/AP)
Credit: Seth Wenig/AP
3/8
According to The New York Times, Rikers Island has been a place of “great violence.” Stabbing incidents have reached, according to the newspaper, 10,000 annually. During the crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1900s, the prison population was twice its current size, and rival gangs ‘ruled’ different parts of the complex. (US Geological Survey)
Click here to continue with the gallery
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
4/8
Given the chronic violence in the center, the mayor announced in September of last year a plan to reduce it. “We want less violence in Rikers and these steps will make the island safer,” he said about the inclusion of more officers, the use – for the first time – of stun guns by captains of emergency units and the installation of new scanners to prevent the drug and weapons smuggling. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Crédito: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
5/8
This set of measures was strongly criticized by activist organizations, which argued that it was “an outrageous increase in weapons in a system where violence by staff is not controlled.” (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Crédito: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
6/8
The “culture of violence” alluded to by the mayor gained particular notoriety after a 2014 federal report by former prosecutor Preet Bharara who denounced this “culture of violence” of which adolescents in particular were victims who had their civil rights. That report put a spotlight on the “rampant” use of force by correctional officers in this prison system. (Baby Matthews/AP)
Credit: Bebeto Matthews/AP
Click here to continue with the gallery
7/8
This image shows scalpels seized from jail inmates in September 2014. Of the approximately 7,300 inmates currently in this complex, 33.1% of the population is Hispanic, while 55.7% is African-American, according to data provided by the Department of Correction. (New York City Department of Investigation via AP)
Credit: AP
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
8/8
Rikers Island has belonged to the city of New York since the 1880s and throughout history its most notable inmates have included John Lennon’s assassin Mark David Chapman, rocker Sid Vicious, rappers DMX and Tupac Shakur, the serial killer David Berkowitz (known as “Son of Sam”) and the former director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
Credit: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
2023-08-22 20:12:00
#Latino #inmate #dies #Rikers #Island #eighth #incustody #death #York
