Two Rikers Island correction officers were suspended after a 39-year-old man died in his jail cell last month — the first person to perish at the long-troubled complex this year, according to a recent report by the board that oversees Rikers.
In the hours before Barry Cozart was found unresponsive at the George R. Vierno Center on March 25, an officer assigned to his cell area failed to check on detainees every 30 minutes as required, and left their post repeatedly without a stand-in, the review by the city Board of Correction states.
The report, which Gothamist obtained through a public records request, found inaccurate entries in jail logbooks about how often tours were conducted in the facility. It also found detainees in Cozart’s area congregated in cells that were not theirs. Cell doors were not secure, four cameras in the unit weren’t working and multiple detainees had contraband that resembled a white cigarette, according to investigators.
Both the officer and area captain assigned to the unit received suspensions of more than three weeks following Cozart’s death, the report states. Surveillance footage detailed in the document showed him appearing unwell the night before he died.
The suspensions mark the latest instance of Rikers officers receiving discipline after the death of someone in custody. They also come as the jail complex faces increased scrutiny from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new correction commissioner and a federally appointed remediation manager tasked with pushing forward reforms.
The mayor has pledged to improve conditions at Rikers, in hopes of ultimately replacing the jails with smaller, borough-based facilities in the coming years.
“It's a start,” Barry Cozart's sister Donna Cozart said in a phone interview when informed of the suspensions.
Cozart's family has hired attorney Gabriel Harvis to investigate further, and said they intend to file a lawsuit against the city.
“Barry’s death was preventable, and this tragedy raises serious concerns about systemic failures at Rikers Island that demand accountability, answers, and justice,” Harvis said.
Department of Correction spokesperson Shayla Mulzac-Warner said in a statement that “all aspects of this tragedy are still under investigation."
The union that represents the correction officers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suspensions and report.
Barry Cozart
The department initially said Cozart died after having a medical emergency at the facility. The city Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said this week that it is still determining Cozart’s cause and manner of death.
Cozart's family said they were not aware of him having any serious health issues when he arrived at Rikers in November. He was awaiting trial on burglary, criminal trespass and petit larceny charges for allegedly breaking into a home in Queens, court records show.
According to those records, he had a scheduled court appearance on March 24, the day before he died. Larry Cozart, Barry’s father, said the family last heard from him that day. He said his son sounded upbeat and was planning for his eventual release.
The watchdog report said surveillance video showed Barry Cozart walking in and out of other cells until almost 9 p.m. on March 24, at times appearing weak and lethargic. At one point, he leaned his back against a wall “as if he had lost balance,” and slid down to the floor. He got up after a few minutes and continued walking around to different cells, according to the report.
When detainees were allowed to leave their cells early the following morning, Cozart stayed in his cell, the report states.
A few hours later, the officer on duty left the unit unattended for almost an hour, the surveillance video showed. Then, around 10 a.m., the officer supervised as a fellow detainee tossed a roll of toilet paper into Cozart’s cell.
The officer returned to Cozart’s cell with the area captain around 10:30 a.m., and they "briefly looked” inside before proceeding with their tour, investigators found.
About a half-hour later, Cozart was unresponsive when the officer and a mailroom officer entered his cell with a package, the report states.
The mailroom officer started giving Cozart CPR while the other officer activated a medical emergency, according to the report. Medical staff arrived and rendered Cozart aid, but they could not revive him, and a doctor pronounced him dead around 11:30 a.m.
Larry Cozart said his son, the second-youngest of seven siblings, had been living in Queens before his arrest and used to own a barbershop. He said Barry was a compassionate person who had struggled with addiction in the past.
“Hopefully things will change, and I just hope that justice will be served as far as any negligence that may have happened that day that my brother passed,” Donna Cozart said.
At least 15 people died at or shortly after being released from Rikers last year, according to jail officials. A federal monitor found many of those deaths involved lapses in supervision, staff failing to follow basic procedures and delays in emergency response.
In a statement on social media after Cozart died, Mamdani said he was “deeply troubled” by the death and called for “transparency and accountability.”
“Rikers must close, and we will pursue every avenue to do so as quickly as possible,” he said.
Several days later, 49-year-old John Price died after being transferred from Rikers to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens to receive medical care. His cause of death has also not been released yet.
“Every person in our city’s care,” the mayor said in the wake of Price’s death, “deserves dignity, safety and access to quality medical treatment — without exception.”
