Man held on Rikers Island dies; 13th jail-related death in 2025
A man held in a city jail on a burglary charge died Friday morning under previously undisclosed circumstances, the 13th jail-related death in 2025, officials said.
Edwin Ramos, 50, was found in medical distress in a bathroom at Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island at 12:04 a.m. and taken to that prison’s medical clinic 20 minutes later, the corrections department said in a statement.
Doctors then took him to a nearby hospital where he died. The DOC had not released further details as of Friday morning.
“A man in the department’s custody tragically died after being taken to hospital,” DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement. The care of all those who reside in our facilities is our highest priority and we mourn their loss.
Ramos was arrested Aug. 14 in Brooklyn and charged with second-degree attempted burglary and ordered held on $20,000 bail or $80,000 bond, DOC records show. He was due to appear in court Friday morning.
This is the 13th prison-related death in 2025, the highest number since 2022, the first year of the Adams administration, when there were 19. There were nine deaths in 2024, five in 2023 and 16 in 2021, the final year of Mayor de Blasio’s term.
The death comes after the Correctional Council released a scathing report on November 5 on the first five deaths of 2025, revealing a series of failures that contributed to the deaths. The committee reported that failures in deaths included medical staff not immediately notified, unsecured cell doors, officers inexplicably walking away from their posts or failing to conduct rounds and making inaccurate logbook entries.
“As another family mourns the loss of a loved one to Rikers, thousands continue to suffer and the crisis has deepened,” said Darren Mack, co-director of Freedom Agenda, an advocacy group.
“Mayor Adams is leaving office after doing everything in his power to delay the legally mandated closure of Rikers while filling the jails. We will need urgent action to stop sending people to these deadly jails, close Rikers, and finally end the cycle of suffering in this hellscape.”
The death also comes as parties to the Nunez class action lawsuit wait for Judge Laura Taylor Swain to select an outside manager to take over running key elements of the system from the city. Around thirty people applied for the position.
The 2011 federal lawsuit claimed the city failed to address violence and use of force by staff in the system. Swain ruled the city was in contempt of court orders in that case a year ago and ruled in May in favor of the outside manager.
The city is raising possible appeal issues in the case, arguing that Swain overstepped his authority in creating the warden under federal law and also saying progress has been made in improving security at the jails.
