Two detainees die within a day on Rikers
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Two people being held on Rikers Island died in quick succession of each other on Monday and Tuesday. AP file photo by Seth Wenig
By Jacob Kaye
Two detainees died on Rikers Island in quick succession of each other on Monday and Tuesday as the jail’s top officials were across the Atlantic, touring jails in Europe.
Rajpattie Ramkellawan, a 41-year-old who was being held in the women’s jail on Rikers Island, died after experiencing an alleged medical emergency on Monday around 11:15 a.m.
The next morning, Umais Khan died in the jails. The Department of Correction said that Khan, 40, was found unresponsive in the cell he was being held in. After DOC staff attempted to revive him, Khan was pronounced dead around 11:20 a.m., almost exactly 24 hours after Ramkellawan’s death.
The deaths are the third and fourth on Rikers Island since Mayor Zohran Mamdani first took office at the start of 2026, vowing to reform the troubled jails that have seen over 100 detainees die in the past decade.
“I am saddened to learn of the death of a person in city custody this morning,” Mamdani said in a social media post after Ramkellawan’s death on Monday. “My thoughts are with their loved ones and everyone impacted by this heartbreaking tragedy.”
“Transparency is essential, and the Department of Correction and our oversight partners have begun an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this death,” he added. “Our administration remains steadfast in our commitment to both improving conditions in our city's jail system and to closing Rikers Island.”
The two deaths came as DOC Commissioner Stanley Richards and remediation manager Nicholas Deml were in Germany, learning about the country’s jails and prisons, which are known for emphasizing rehabilitation instead of punishment and for their comparatively low recidivism rates. A DOC spokesperson said the trip was similar to one taken by Connecticut correctional leaders around a decade ago, which resulted in the implementation of a German-style therapy program for incarcerated people inside one of Connecticut’s maximum security prisons.
According to the DOC, Richards traveled to Germany without any other DOC officials and without a security detail. The trip came at no cost to taxpayers and was sponsored by the Vera Institute of Justice.
Deml, who was appointed to the powerful position by U.S. Southern District of New York Chief Judge Laura Swain earlier this year, also did not require taxpayer dollars to fund his trip, according to the DOC.
Deml is barred by the judge from speaking to the press.
Department of Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards, who was visiting prisons and jails in Germany this week when two detainees died on Rikers Island within quick succession of each other. AP file photo by Seth Wenig
Like the detainees who died on Monday and Tuesday, the first two detainees who died in the jails earlier this year did so within the same week.
Barry Cozart, 39, died in the George R. Vierno Center on Wednesday, March 25, after allegedly experiencing an unspecified medical issue.
Cozart had been held pretrial on $30,000 cash bail or a $90,000 bond after being charged in a Jamaica Estates burglary case. He had been held on Rikers since November and last appeared in Queens Criminal Court a day before his death.
John Price, a 49-year-old from Queens, died three days later after he “required medical attention,” the DOC said at the time.
Price had been accused of running a drug trafficking ring in Jamaica and had been held on Rikers since December 2024 ahead of his trial.
Ramkellawan was facing a number of misdemeanor theft charges, according to court records. She was arrested and sent to Rikers after missing several court appearances.
Khan pleaded guilty to a burglary charge in November but didn’t show up to his next court hearing. He was arrested in January and sent to Rikers, according to court records. Khan was scheduled to be sentenced in July.
The deaths come at a time of major change on Rikers and within the DOC.
Deml recently began to share authority with the commissioner over the DOC’s finances, facilities, procurement practices, labor relations, legal matters and more.
The deaths also come as both Mamdani and Richards have recommitted the city to reforming its criminal justice system and to closing Rikers Island, as mandated by city law. The mayor has taken a number of steps in pursuit of that effort in recent months, including opening a new jail ward in Bellevue Hospital to house around 100 severely ill detainees and lessen Rikers’ population.
But in the wake of this week’s deaths, advocates said the mayor needs to do more to move Rikers’ closure along and correct the dangerous conditions that have defined Rikers for a century.
“As the family of Rajpattie Ramkellawan is still processing the news of her death yesterday, another family now will get the horrific news of their loved one’s passing at the hell hole that is Rikers Island,” Darren Mack, the co-director of Freedom Agenda, said in a statement. “We need every part of city government to be working with urgency toward closing Rikers. That includes passing a budget that makes real and substantial investments in prevention and diversion, including ending the cruel surge of low-level arrests that is funneling more and more vulnerable people through the courts and Rikers.”
