A disgruntled Bronx tenant arrested for shooting to death the superintendent of his building and wounding two other men has died while being held at Rikers Island.
Jimmy Avila was pronounced dead at 4:29 p.m. Saturday in the jail’s West Facility after medics rushed to his aid and tried to revive him, according to Department of Correction officials. It is unclear how Avila died. NYPD officials say Avila was 44 but Correction Department documents list him as 34.
“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of an individual in our care,” Correction Department Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement. “We mourn his passing and extend our sympathies to his loved ones. We will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of this tragic event.”
Avila was held without bail following his arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court on Friday. He was due to appear back in court Tuesday. He was facing charges of murder, attempted murder and multiple weapons possession charges for allegedly fatally shooting Ryan Hines, 37, in the chest inside the College Ave. apartment building near E. 170th St. about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Avila was also accused of shooting and wounding neighbor Orlando Nieves, 62. Nieves was struck in the arm, with the bullet then going into the side of his chest.
“My husband got hit twice,” Nieves’ spouse, who gave her name only as Ebony, told the Daily News. “He was ducking down and I was pulling him through the door.”
“The super ran out and [the suspect] chased him outside,” she added.
A 59-year-old man, who is believed to be homeless according to News 12 Bronx, was shot in the buttocks as Avila chased the super into the street and continued firing shots, officials said. The wounded man later showed up at an area hospital and was expected to recover.
Medics rushed Hines and Nieves to an area hospital, where the super died.
After the shooting, Avila, who had an established mental health history including two documented incidents with the NYPD, hid in his first-floor apartment and reached out to News 12 Bronx, saying that he wouldn’t surrender until the outlet arrived to film it.
“I didn’t mean to do this, but I had to do it because these people were threatening my life,” Avila told the station.
Avila had filed numerous 311 complaints about condition in his building, sued his landlord and made criminal complaints against his neighbors in the months leading up to the shooting, a Daily News investigation found.
With John Annese
Originally Published: August 30, 2025 at 11:06 PM EDT
