Edwin Ramos was hours away from freedom.
Ramos, 38, was set to plead guilty to an attempted burglary charge at a hearing in
Brooklyn court Friday morning. The judge was then expected to release him from Rikers
Island into some type of program, according to a source familiar with his case.
He died a few hours before that, after experiencing what appeared to be a seizure inside
a shower, the city Department of Correction said in a press release.
“Just days ago, Mr. Ramos spoke with family and showed no signs of distress,” Legal Aid
Society, which was handling his defense, said in a statement. “This morning, he was
scheduled to take a plea — before his father — that would have allowed him to begin
rebuilding his life outside of jail. He will never get the chance to start that new chapter.”
A few minutes after midnight, a city correction officer saw Ramos “in medical distress”
inside a bathroom at the Otis Bantum Correction Centers on Rikers, the Department of
Correction said.
He was brought to the facility’s medical clinic by 12:24 before emergency medical
services moved him to a nearby hospital, the DOC said in a press release. He was
pronounced dead shortly afterward.
“The care of everyone who resides in our facilities is our highest priority, and we mourn
his loss,” DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement. “Our deepest
sympathies go out to his loved ones.”
The death will be “thoroughly investigated,” she added.
The troubled jail complex saw 16 deaths in 2021 and 19 in 2022, the highest annual
figure in years. Deaths dropped to nine in 2023 and five last year, but the numbers are
climbing again: Ramos is the 13th person to die in custody so far in 2025.
Meanwhile, Laura Swain, chief district judge for Manhattan federal court, is in the
process of selecting a so-called remediation manager to take over large parts of the
Department of Correction.
She has spent the past six months and counting trying to come up with a plan for how
the remediation manager will work with a DOC commissioner and the court-appointed
monitor in place since 2015. She has not said publicly when she will make her next
ruling.
Ramos was arrested Aug. 14 and held on Rikers on $20,000 bail or $80,000 bond, court
records show.
Jail officials struggled to notify his relatives after his sudden death, according to a
department source. His father was told about it as he waited in Brooklyn court to
support his son for what he believed would be his final appearance while held in
custody.
Meanwhile, a major reform measure is awaiting action in Albany.
In June, state lawmakers passed the Jail and Prison Oversight Omnibus Bill —
sponsored by Sen. Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Erik Dilan — which would
overhaul the State Commission of Correction and expand its authority over state prisons
and local jails, including Rikers Island.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has not yet indicated whether she will sign the legislation.
Advocates say the need for stronger oversight is urgent.
Sixty percent of people incarcerated at Rikers receive mental health services, according
to the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, while more than one in five is
diagnosed with a serious mental illness. The group also cites high rates of opioid use
disorder, lung disease and cardiovascular disease among those detained.
In a statement responding to the latest death, Jeffrey Davis, a member of the Katal
Center and a former Rikers detainee, said it was sadly not surprising.
“In any way you look at it,” he said. “Rikers Island is designed to kill people who look
like me.”