Rikers officials release names of men who died in custody of NYC corrections

One of the men who died had a 'medical emergency' on the bus to Rikers, officials said.

City officials have now named both men who died in Department of Correction custody, just hours apart from each other in separate incidents Friday.

A 56-year-old man died Friday afternoon while on a correction facility bus, after being discharged from a hospital, according to city officials.

The department listed the man’s name as James Maldanado, but court records only list a James Maldonado who was arrested this week and would have been the same age listed for the detainee. The department told Gothamist the name reflected the records they had, but officials were still verifying the details.

The department announced Friday that 37-year-old Benjamin Kelly had died about an hour earlier while being held inside the jail complex.

The deaths mean Rikers has outpaced its total for 2024 as it faces court-mandated reforms and a potential takeover by the federal government, after years of documented sexual abuse and other violence at the facility.

The 56-year-old detainee had a “medical emergency” on the bus headed to Rikers at around 4:30 p.m. Friday, and was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later. Officials said he was in the hospital prior to being taken into custody.

The man’s lawyer did not immediately respond to Gothamist’s inquiries.

Earlier in the day, a Rikers correction officer observed Kelly in “medical distress” at the Eric M. Taylor Center at 3 p.m. Kelly was given medical aid, but died roughly a half hour later, officials said.

Kelly’s lawyer also didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

“The life of every single person in our care is valued and Friday was profoundly tragic for the department as two individuals lost their lives,” said DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, in a statement Friday. "Our deepest sympathies are with their loved ones. These incidents will be investigated thoroughly.”

Michael Sisitzky, policy assistant director for the NYCLU, said the deaths were part of a "culture of abuse and impunity at the jail, which has only gotten worse under Mayor Adams."

"No one should fear that detainment could become a death sentence, but the deplorable conditions at Rikers have contributed to an ongoing cycle of death at the jail," Sisitzky said.

A federal judge ruled in May that an outside “remediation manager” should be appointed to oversee the facility which is teetering on the brink of federal receivership. Mayor Eric Adams has rejected the notion that his administration has lost control of the facility even as reports of beatings, sexual assault and deaths continue to mount.

Last month, an independent commission found that the city would not make good on its legally mandated directive to shut down the jails by 2027.

This story has been updated to include comment from NYCLU policy assistant director Michael Sisitzky.