A Rikers Island inmate locked up on burglary charges died of an overdose — and jail staffers are facing discipline following “violations” in their response, corrections officials said Tuesday.
Felix Taveras, 40, complained of pain while being held in Anna M. Kross Correctional Facility around 11:55 p.m. Monday and was taken to the clinic for medical care, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Correction said.
Law enforcement sources said Narcan was administered multiple times.
Taveras was later transported to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died of an overdose just before 1:30 a.m., the agency said.
“Based on preliminary departmental review, procedural violations were discovered and suspensions will be issued,” a spokesman said but did not provide details of the offenses.
Read Related Also: Stephen A. Smith wants Shannon Sharpe on ‘First Take’: ‘Talks are serious’
Taveras was arrested on March 28 in connection to a burglary on Staten Island and held on $30,000 bail, according to jail and court records.
The DOC spokesman said death is under investigation and notifications have been made to all appropriate agencies, including Rikers’ federal monitor and the Board of Correction.
The monitor admonished the agency in May for failing to alert the watchdog of multiple dangerous incidents in a timely manner as is required by court orders.
The death marks at least the fourth in-custody death this year, on the heels of a particularly deadly 2022, when 19 inmates died behind bars.
The DOC no longer issues press releases when an inmate dies in custody as part of a significant shift in policy earlier this year, which led to two deaths initially going unreported.
