Two inmates die on Rikers in one afternoon

Two Rikers Island detainees died within hours of each other on Friday afternoon. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

Two inmates in Department of Correction custody died within an hour and a half of each on Rikers Island on Friday afternoon.

Inmates 37-year-old Benjamin Kelly and 56-year-old James Maldonado both died on Friday, bringing the Rikers death toll to seven, two more than all of last year.

According to the DOC, an officer found Kelly in medical distress at around 2:59 p.m. at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers while conducting a tour.

Kelly was given medical aid but was pronounced dead about half an hour later.

At around 4:30 p.m, Maldonado suffered a medical emergency while on a bus en route to Rikers, and was taken to the Taylor Center where was pronounced dead at 4:49 p.m., only 78-minutes after Kelly was pronounced dead.

Maldonado had not yet been admitted to Rikers when his emergency began, and had just been discharged from the hospital before a scheduled court appearance.

“The life of every single person in our care is valued and Friday was profoundly tragic for the department as two individuals lost their lives,” Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies are with their loved ones. These incidents will be investigated thoroughly.”

The DOC added that they notified the federal monitor, Board of Correction, state attorney general’s office, city Department of Investigation, State Commission of Correction, district attorneys and the individuals’ attorneys of the deaths.

Friday’s deaths are the sixth and seventh to occur on Rikers through not even the first six months of the year, and exceed the five that died in DOC custody during all of 2024.

The Legal Aid Society condemned the incidents, and said that Maldonado was a former client of the organization and he died shortly after his arraignment.

“We mourn the tragic deaths of two New Yorkers who died in the custody of the New York City Department of Correction this past Friday,” Legal Aid said in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to their families, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

Legal Aid also criticized DOC for a lack of details and transparency regarding inmate deaths, which has become a common refrain following these incidents.

“Often, DOC fails to provide even the most basic details to counsel, the client’s family, or the public,” Legal Aid said. “This ongoing lack of transparency is unacceptable. We call for an immediate and independent investigation by the New York City Department of Investigation to ensure that both DOC and the New York City Police Department — where Mr. Maldonado spent

the majority of his detention — are held accountable and provide answers to his loved ones and the public.”

In April, Dashawn Jenkins became the fifth person to die either in DOC custody or having just been released from it in 2025.

His death, which also occurred following a “medical emergency" was the last in a rash of detainee deaths over six weeks earlier this year. Jenkins died just a little over a week after Rikers guards found 55-year-old Sonia Reyes unresponsive inside a cell. Reyes’ death came only a few days after 20-year-old Ariel Quidone died in Elmhurst Hospital after falling ill at Rikers Island, where he had been held for less than a week.

Although, because Quidone was released from city custody while in the hospital, the DOC does not officially include Quidone in its death toll.

Prior to those deaths, Ramel Powell, a 38-year-old died on Feb. 19, and 55-year-old Terrance Moore died five days after Powell when he experienced a seizure inside Manhattan Criminal Court, where he had been brought from Rikers Island by the DOC for a court appearance.

Nine people died in 2023 and 19 died in 2022, marking a 10-year high.

Over the past decade, over 100 people have died in the DOC’s custody, and 40 have died since Mayor Eric Adams took office.

“We must be honest with ourselves – by the time many people reach Rikers, they are dealing with real health and substance abuse issues,” Adams said following deaths earlier this year. “People don’t come in with the best care.”

The state of Rikers Island has long been a major issue during the mayor’s tenure.

In May, a federal judge took the extraordinary step of stripping the city of its control over the notorious jail complex, ruling that City Hall could no longer be trusted to tamp down the violence that has plagued the dangerous jail complex for decades.

Federal Judge Swain announced the government would appoint a receiver, known as a “remedial manager,” who will answer only to the judge and, in a number of instances, supplant the power of the DOC commissioner and the mayor.

“[The city has] demonstrated — in virtually every core area the court and the monitor have identified as related to the persistence of excessive and unnecessary force — that neither court orders nor the monitor’s interventions are sufficient to push the DOC toward compliance,” Swain wrote in her ruling. “The myriad examples of non-compliance described in the contempt order illustrate the fundamental inability of court orders in this matter, standing alone, to compel reform.”