Family of man who died while in custody over the weekend holds rally demanding Rikers Island be closed
NEW YORK -- There are new calls to close Rikers Island after a 28-year-old man died while in custody over the weekend.
Advocates say he was the 17th person to die at the jail this year.
As CBS2's Lisa Rozner reported Tuesday, the family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Department of Correction.
The family of Erick Tavira said he suffered with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and that he spent 16 months on Rikers Island, waiting for his day in court on a misdemeanor charge for allegedly attacking a 14-year-old without provocation.
He was held on $20,000 bail because he was previously charged for assaulting an officer while seeking mental health treatment at a hospital.
"They arrest him at the hospital ... when he needed the medicine why didn't they provide the medicine?" mother Haydeth Tavira said.
Erick Tavira died by suicide on Saturday. His family was joined Tuesday by the loved ones of two other inmates who died this year. They called on Mayor Eric Adams to close Rikers Island and for the city to end solitary confinement.
READ MORE: Department of Correction: Kevin Bryan dies while in custody at Rikers Island
Gina Pondexter's brother died hours after he was given compassionate release from Rikers.
"What does it take for somebody to stand up and do something about 'Death Island?' Pondexter said.
"He ended up dying before showing up to court for a minor thing, stealing from a store," said Jennie Rosario-Megibow, mother of Michael David Lopez.
In the middle of the rally, coincidentally, the commissioner of the Department of Correction walked into City Hall, but did not respond.
The DOC would only say it extends its condolences to the Tavira family and the death is under investigation.
READ MORE: Board of Correction report prompts activists to rally and call for closure of Rikers Island
Last month, the New York City Board of Correction found a "pervasive" issue of officers not making rounds to check on inmates, insufficient staffing a "persistent problem," and that staff failed to provide timely first aid in five deaths in 2021.
Some City Council members visited Rikers Island on Monday.
"I saw men living in squalor, leaks all across the floor with old brown water, garbage strewn everywhere, food tossed everywhere. This is no condition for human beings," Councilman Lincoln Restler said.
The proposed "Treatment Not Jails Act" would increase opportunities for mental health treatment, instead of jail. It is unclear if it will pass the state Legislature this year.
The mayor's office did not respond to CBS2's requests for comment. While DOC did not comment directly on Tuesday's rally, it did recently say it has reduced violence at Rikers, and that an increase in searches has resulted in nearly 1,000 weapons being discovered at the jail.
