7th inmate at Rikers Island dies this year

Aug. 26 (UPI) — New York City officials said an inmate of Rikers Island died Tuesday, marking the seventh death of an inmate this year at the detention facility this year.

The New York City Department of Correction said a correction officer found inmate Clarence Woodward, 41, experiencing a medical emergency at about 5 a.m. at the Robert N. Davoren Center. Responding medical support rendered aid, but Woodward was pronounced dead at 5:40 a.m.

Numerous officials, including the State Attorney General’s Office and Woodward’s attorney, have been notified, the department said.

“Our department mourns the loss of Clarence Woodward and we share our deepest condolences with his family and loved ones,” NYC Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards said in a statement.

“This tragedy will be thoroughly investigated.”

No cause of death was given, nor did the department detail the medical emergency that Woodward had experienced.

“We do not yet know the cause of death, but we do know that too many New Yorkers have died on Rikers Island,” NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement, adding that the Department of Correction and its oversight partners will investigate the cirblockstances surrounding his death.

“Our administration is fully committed to the critical work of creating better conditions in our city’s jail system and closing Rikers Island as quickly as possible,” he said.

Court records indicate that Woodward, who self-identified as Black, was arrested Aug. 8, 2024, on a slew of charges including second-degree murder, to which he pleaded not guilty. His next court date was Sept. 29.

According to local reports, Woodward is accused of stabbing two men at a Claremont laundromat at around 2:40 a.m. before fleeing the scene, killing one person, while the other survived. Police said he was staying at a homeless shelter at the time of the alleged crime.

Woodward’s death comes less than a week after 36-year-old Christopher Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the facility at 8:39 a.m. Aug. 19 after being observed in a state of medical distress.

There was an inmate death in July and two inmate deaths in both May and March.

Last year, 15 people died in Department of Correction custody, according to the Vera justice reform group.

“Enough deaths, enough delay. We must close Rikers,” New York County Defender Services said in a statement Tuesday.