A man detained at the Rikers Island jails died overnight after he was rushed to the hospital during a medical episode, city Department of Correction officials said Friday.
A guard found Edwin Ramos, 38, in distress in a bathroom at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center around 12:05 a.m., according to the agency. The guard provided aid to Ramos, who was then taken to a Rikers clinic and ultimately a nearby hospital, officials said.
The nonprofit Legal Aid Society, which represented Ramos, said he had been expected to take a plea deal Friday morning. Ramos was arrested in August on an attempted burglary charge for an incident in Brooklyn in July, public records show.
Authorities said they will investigate Ramos' death and reported it to state and local officials as required. In a statement, the Legal Aid Society also demanded that details of his death be disclosed to family, loved ones and counsel. It said Ramos' father learned of his son's death in court, and that counsel learned through the press, calling it "disgraceful" and "unacceptable" that they didn't hear directly from the Department of Correction.
"The care of everyone who resides in our facilities is our highest priority, and we mourn his loss," Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement. "Our deepest sympathies go out to his loved ones."
Ramos is the 13th person who has died at or shortly after being released from Rikers so far this year, according to Gothamist's tracking of Department of Correction reports. That total is more than double the number of detainee deaths for all of last year.
This is a developing story and has been updated with additional information.
