Officials: 20-year-old inmate dies at Rikers Island, marks 6th NYC Corrections Department death of 2022

The department says 20-year-old Emanuel Sullivan was found unresponsive by a corrections officer on his bed inside a housing area at the complex.

News 12 Staff

May 29, 2022, 1:39 PM

Updated 867 days ago

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Officials say an inmate died Saturday afternoon at the Robert N. Davoren Center.
The department says 20-year-old Emanuel Sullivan was found unresponsive by a corrections officer on his bed inside a housing area at the complex.
News 12 was told medical staff arrived immediately to tend to Sullivan, but that he was pronounced dead at around 4:25 p.m.
The Department of Corrections says the housing area was staffed and that all tours were conducted throughout the day.
Sullivan is the sixth death in DOC custody of this year and the third reported death in May.
The most recent death was 31-year-old Mary Yehudah, who was pronounced dead while in custody on May 18. Two weeks before that, 25-year-old Dashwn Carter was also pronounced dead.
The jail has been at the center of controversy for its security and safety practices.
The DOC commissioner released a statement that says, “Mr. Sullivan's passing fills our hearts with grief, as we understand everyone entrusted to our care is someone's loved one. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family and loved ones at this difficult time."
News 12 was told Sullivan was being held on a second-degree murder charge and a first-degree robbery charge. The cause of his death is being investigated.
The leader of the Halt Solitary Campaign, an advocacy group for decarceration in city prisons and jails, released this a statement. It says in part, “Enough is enough. I am so tired and devastated to hear about the death of Emmanuel Sullivan...we need action to decarcerate and we need our elected officials to make decisions that will keep incarcerated people, and staff, alive, safe, and healthy."
About 22 people have died in city jails over the last year and a half.