Advocates plan vigil for inmate who died in Queens state prison

An inmate who died at the Queensboro Correctional Facility was one of five state prison inmates to die as a result of the coronavirus. Photo via Corrections History

By David Brand

Justice reform advocates and local faith leaders will gather outside the Queensboro Correctional Facility Thursday for a vigil commemorating a 60-year-old inmate who died April 14, less than two months before his scheduled release date.

The inmate, Leonard Carter, was serving the final weeks of his sentence for second-degree murder and was scheduled for release on May 26, according to Department of Correction and Community Supervision records. Carter was convicted in 1996 and had been granted parole after serving more than 24 years of his 25-to-life sentence. 

Carter died the same day that advocates first rallied outside the Long Island City prison to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo to grant clemency to the inmates inside, each of whom are serving no more than 120 days. He is one of six inmates to have died as a result of the coronavirus statewide, according to DOCCS.

“I woke up this morning thinking about what horror and trauma must be happening inside the New York State prison system,” said advocate Mark Shervington at the event.

Advocates Thursday will be joined by family members of other Queensboro inmates.

Six individuals have so far been tested for COVID-19 at the “short stay” Long Island City prison, according to DOCCS. Five others were sent from the open dormitories of Queensboro to another prison to reduce the number of detainees at Queensboro and promote isolation, the state agency said.

Carter was tested for the illness before his death, DOCCS said.