New York, Oct 25 (EFE) .- The mother of the last inmate who died last weekend in the infamous Rikers Prison in New York demanded in a protest this Tuesday that this penitentiary, considered the second largest, be closed. . States.
Erick Travis, 28, Haydeth’s eldest son, a Mexican, is the 17th inmate to lose his life at that institution this year – one more than in 2016. He did this by hanging himself with a sheet, according to the media, despite the fact that he was in the mental health ward where he was supposed to be under surveillance.
About 48% of the population in New York’s Rikers Municipal Jail has mental health problems, 15% of which are severely, activists and religious leaders who have called for its closure to the administration of Mayor Eric Adams reported on Tuesday, or less. that the isolation that persists in the penitentiary center is over.
“I still don’t know what he died of,” said Travis’s mother, who remembered him as a happy person, who liked to sing and who helped him in the pantry where he works since he was eight.
He also assured EFE that despite his son suffering from schizophrenia, he was not receiving medical treatment. “I fought for this. They made me believe they were helping him, but in reality they weren’t giving him medicine,” said the Mexican immigrant from the state of Guerrero, who could not contain her tears, like her daughters Ruth and Amaryllis. and other family members.
He also indicated that although his son spent a lot of time in Rikers, he was not brought before a judge to officially file the charges. “I still don’t know why they arrested him,” he said. The long stay in Rikers without the detainees being charged has been repeatedly denounced by activists.
“It shouldn’t have been there,” he said. According to media reports, Travis entered this prison in June 2021 after being unable to bail the $ 40,000 charged with strangulation and was in George R. Vierno’s mental health unit, where he was theoretically supervised.
“How many other members of the community do we have to lose?” The group asked Tuesday, carrying signs with messages of “no more isolation”, “Rikers is a death sentence” and who also called for the release of prisoners with problems with mental health and receive care in their communities.
Ombudsman, Jumaane Williams, stressed that “no one in Rikers has been sentenced to death. However, he is the seventeenth person who died this year. Rikers is prepared for violence and death.” EFE
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