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A person detained at the Vernon C. Bain Center died Wednesday after appearing to be in “medical distress,” according to the New York City Department of Corrections. Stephen Khadu, 34, is the second Rikers Island inmate to die in the past three days, and the eleventh to die in the past year, officials said.
“I am devastated that we have yet another death in custody, and determined to stop this heartbreaking trend,” Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are doing all we can to remedy the unprecedented crisis we are experiencing in our prisons. My thoughts and prayers are with those close to the person.”
Khadu entered the correctional service in 2019 for 2nd degree murder, according to the correctional service.
On Wednesday he “appeared to be in medical distress” and a medical emergency was triggered. He was rushed to Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx where he died at around 10:50 a.m., the prison service said.
Khadu’s death comes after Isaabdul Karim died in a Rikers Island infirmary on Sunday. Schiraldi said her cause of death appeared to be natural, but is still under investigation by the medical examiner, CBS New York reported.
“Ensuring the safety of those in prison is our main mission, and I am heartbroken that we have seen another death of a human being in our care,” Schiraldi said on Sunday.
Located in the East River near New York, the Rikers Island prison complex has been plagued by problems for years. New York State Assembly member Jessica González-Rojas, who visited the complex with several fellow lawmakers, said Lana Zak of CBS News that the facilities are “in a state of emergency”, alleging that she saw garbage, cockroaches and rotten food during her visit.
She called on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to enact the Less is More Law, which Hochul pass Last week.
The legislation frees those incarcerated for minor technical parole violations and addresses the problem of overcrowding in the facility. Hochul ordered the immediate release of 191 detainees housed at Rikers Island, as well as 200 other convicts with less than 60 to 90 days remaining in their sentence.
The notorious prison establishment is planned closure by 2027.
Khadu’s death is currently under investigation.
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