A 40-year-old man died Tuesday while being detained on Rikers Island, marking the second death within 24 hours to occur at the notorious jail complex.
Umais Khan was found unconscious in his bed at the Eric M. Taylor Center by another detainee, who alerted Department of Correction staff around 10:54 a.m., a department spokeswoman said.
DOC personnel performed CPR on Khan while awaiting medical staff, who arrived at the scene to render aid within minutes, according to DOC.
He could not be revived and was declared dead at 11:21 a.m.
“I am absolutely devastated that we have lost someone in our care and this tragedy is felt by every member of service,” Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards said. “On behalf of myself and the department, I share my deepest condolences with his loved ones.”
Khan had multiple ongoing cases in Manhattan, court records show. His most recent arrest occurred on May 5 when he was charged with multiple counts of burglary.
DOC is investigating Khan’s death, Mayor Mamdani said on Tuesday. No cause of death was immediately provided.
“I am devastated to learn of the death of a person in City custody this morning. My heart is with their loved ones and everyone impacted by this unimaginable loss,” Mamdani said in a statement posted on X.
Mamdani has vowed to close the troubled facility, where 15 people died while in custody in 2025.
“Our administration remains firmly committed to the urgent and essential work of creating better conditions in our city’s jail system and closing Rikers Island as quickly as possible,” the mayor said.
Khan’s death marks the fourth Rikers detainee fatality this year and comes the day after a 41-year-old Rajpattie Ramkellawan died following a medical emergency at the jail complex.
Ramkellawan died at the Rose M. Singer Center at 11:13 a.m. after experiencing a “medical emergency,” according to a DOC spokeswoman. Ramkellawan was provided with medical assistance but could not be saved, according to DOC.
An attorney for Ramkellawan said her client lived with “intractable behavioral health challenges.”
“She never lost her childlike innocence despite encountering unimaginable trauma and adversity,” said Katherine LeGeros Bajuk, a mental health attorney specialist with NY County Defender Services. “Her legal team is devastated by this tragedy, and our hearts go out to her loving and supportive family.”
Ramkellawan, who was from Guyana, had multiple ongoing cases, including her most recent arrest on March 18 for criminal possession of stolen property, court records show.
“We are deeply saddened and horrified to learn that our client, Umais Khan, died this morning on Rikers Island. Our outrage is compounded by the loss of another incarcerated NYCDS client, Rajpattie Ramkellawan, less than 24 hours earlier,” said Stan Germán, executive director at NY County Defender Services, which represented both Khan and Ramkellawan prior to their deaths. “We eagerly await the results of the medical examiner’s autopsies, the pending city investigation, and how, moving forward, the Department of Correction intends to keep incarcerated individuals alive in their care.”
On March 28, suspected drug trafficker John Price, 49, died at Elmhurst Hospital after being transferred there from Rikers’ Eric M. Taylor Center. Barry Cozart, a burglary suspect being held at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island, died less than a week earlier.
Khan’s death occurred as Richards was touring correctional facilities in Germany alongside New York City’s federal jail remediation manager, Nicholas Deml, according to The City.
