NEW YORK — A 41-year-old woman died May 18, 2026, at the Rose M. Singer Center jail on Rikers Island, marking the third person to die while in custody on the island this year and intensifying scrutiny of conditions inside New York City’s jail system.
According to a press release from the Katal Center for Equity, Health and Justice, a New York-based nonprofit seeking social justice reform, Rajpattie Ramkellawan died while incarcerated on the island. Mika’el Daniels, a member of the Katal Center, said in the press release, “I send my deepest condolences to everyone who knew and loved Ms. Ramkellawan.”
According to an article by amNewYork, a New York City-based newspaper, Ramkellawan had been in custody on the island since March on charges involving stolen property. She was previously convicted on a burglary charge in 2023.
Public defender and Ramkellawan’s attorney, Katherine LeGeros Bajuk, said in the article that Ramkellawan suffered from “numerous behavioral mental health challenges” throughout her life.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned last year on reducing the city’s jail population and closing the Rikers Island facility, but his proposed budget failed to incorporate measures for population reduction. Furthermore, there is no plan for Rikers Island to be closed.
Rikers Island is one of the most infamous correctional facilities in the nation, with 15 people dying while in custody on the island last year, according to amNewYork.
On March 25, 39-year-old Barry Cosart died of an unspecified medical emergency on Rikers Island, according to the New York City Department of Correction. Cosart faced charges for breaking and entering a woman’s home in Queens. His family reported no health issues prior to his arrival at Rikers Island. His trial was scheduled for March 26, just one day after he died.
Forty-nine-year-old John Price died just three days later, on March 28, after being held on Rikers Island since December 2024 on drug charges. He died from an “unspecified medical issue,” according to an article by the Queens Daily Eagle.
Mayor Mamdani issued a post on X sending his condolences to Ramkellawan’s family and promised that his administration would move to shut down Rikers Island.
“Transparency is essential, and the Department of Correction and our oversight partners have begun an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this death,” Mayor Mamdani said in the post.
Later in the press release, Mika’el Daniels said, “It saddens me to learn that yet another person has died while detained at Rikers Island. … I call on Mayor Mamdani to make shutting down Rikers his top priority. The individuals detained at Rikers Island deserve to be treated humanely and deserve to live.”
The Katal Center has campaigned for the #ShutRikers movement, which calls for the closure of the Rikers Island facility.
The Katal Center and other reform groups have proposed solutions aimed at lowering jail and prison populations without compromising public safety or increasing the risk of reoffending. Among these are supervised release, mental health response teams and Justice Involved Supportive Housing, the latter of which has been incorporated into the Mamdani administration.
As deaths continue to mount on Rikers Island, scrutiny over Mayor Mamdani’s progressive leadership and calls for the facility’s closure continue to intensify. Incarceration in a jail differs from imprisonment because individuals awaiting trial are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Conditions inside facilities like Rikers Island continue to raise concerns about the safety of accused individuals who have not been convicted of a crime.