Recent Custody Deaths in NYC Raise Serious Concerns
In a troubling escalation, two more detainees have died while in city custody over the past week, following the earlier death of an inmate at Rikers Island, according to police and various sources.
Musa Cetin, 29, a pedicab driver facing charges for operating without a valid license, was found unconscious and unresponsive in a cell at the Midtown South NYPD precinct on West 35th Street around 8:33 p.m. last Friday, law enforcement officials reported.
Sources revealed that he appeared to have hanged himself using a jacket.
Just 14 minutes prior, at 8:19 p.m., officers conducted a routine check on Cetin and noted no issues. First responders attempted life-saving measures, yet Cetin was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he passed away two days later, authorities stated.
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division has launched an inquiry into his death.
On the same evening, around 10:15 p.m., Christopher Nieves, 46, was discovered unresponsive in a holding cell at Kings County Criminal Court on Schermerhorn Street.
Emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. Reports indicated that Nieves likely suffered a heart attack.
The city’s medical examiner’s office will determine his official cause of death, while the department’s Force Investigation Division is also investigating this incident.
Nieves was in custody for allegedly stealing food from a Whole Foods the previous day, according to police records.
These fatalities follow the death of 44-year-old Jimmy Avila, who died in custody at Rikers Island’s West Facility around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Avila had been charged with shooting three people, which included the fatal shooting of his building’s superintendent, 37-year-old Ryan Hines, during a violent altercation linked to a shared backyard in the Bronx.
Statement from DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie expressed sorrow over the loss of individuals under their care: "We mourn his passing and extend our sympathies to his loved ones. We will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of this tragic event."
The examination of Avila’s death is still ongoing, following a Sunday autopsy, as reported by the city medical examiner’s office. The Legal Aid Society, which represented Avila, indicated that he had "serious mental health issues" and asserted that such conditions should have been flagged during his intake, necessitating closer monitoring by the Department of Corrections.
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