Michael Lopez, an inmate who died of an alleged drug overdose on Rikers Island, yesterday became the 11th inmate to die this year in New York City Department of Correction (DOC) custody.
Lopez, 34, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Anna M. Kross Center around 9:30 am yesterday. He was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later, according to internal records obtained by New York Post.
A second detainee in the same López area was also found unconscious. and transported to Bellevue Hospital, according to an FDNY spokesperson and jail sources. His condition was not immediately clear.
The detainees are believed to have suffered a fentanyl overdose. Lopez’s death is the fifth suspected or confirmed overdose the DOC has seen so far this year.
Just five days ago a rookie prison officer was fired after Elijah Muhammad, 31, was found unresponsive in his cell at the George R. Vierno Center Sunday morning also from an alleged fentanyl overdose. He was later declared deceased.
At least one other person in the same living area as Muhammad suffered a medical emergency at the same time and investigators were seeking to determine if fentanyl was also involved, jail sources previously said.
A high-ranking source working at Rikers commented that the DOC has to “find a way to stop the drugs… Find out who they are getting it from, who is supplying it and start charging them with murder.”
In a statement, the DOC Commissioner Louis Molina said the agency is “aggressively” investigating the two fatalities that happened this week. “We are doing everything in our power to keep people safe and prevent further loss. Any death in custody is intolerable,” Molina said.
In all of last year, the DOC counted 16 deaths in custody, the most since 2016 and more than 2019 and 2020 combined. The number of prisoner and prisoner deaths in 2022 (11) is far exceeding the 7 at this time in 2021, which means an increase of almost 60%.
Earlier this month, NYC coalitions again called on Mayor Eric Adams to expedite the closure of Rikers, saying that “This year hell is worse.”
Mayor Adams signed an executive order on May 12 creating a commission to seek a solution to the staffing problems and chaotic conditions in the city’s jails, and named its top attorney Brendan McGuire and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks to lead it, he said. Daily News.
For years the Rikers prison complex has been plagued with problems that created unsafe conditions for both inmates and staff. In May, a Hispanic correctional officer from Rikers died after jumping off the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and his union linked the suicide to the stress faced by its employees.
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