NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A man jailed for shoplifting perfume became the 19th person to die in custody at Rikers Island this year on Sunday.
Edgardo Mejias, 39, was pronounced dead around 5 p.m. while in custody at the Anna M. Kross Center, the Department of Correction said in a statement Monday.
"Mr. Mejias' passing fills our hearts with sadness, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies to all who held him dear as we recognize how hard it is to lose a loved one during the holidays," DOC Commissioner Louis A. Molina said in a statement. "As with all deaths in custody, we will work with our sister agencies to ensure that this matter is thoroughly and completely investigated."
Department sources told the Daily News that Mejias died of a suspected overdose and was discovered by other detainees, who alerted staff. Narcan was used several times to try to revive Mejias, but he did not respond.
The DOC did not cite a cause of death amid an investigation by the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, but if it's confirmed that he died of an overdose, that would make him the sixth overdose death in the jails in 2022.
Mejias was arrested Sept. 30 with his girlfriend for stealing perfume at an Ulta Beauty store on West 34th Street near Sixth Avenue on Sept. 8, according to the paper. He entered Rikers Island on Oct. 2 on a first-degree robbery charge.
His death, which will be probed by the state Attorney General and the city's Department of Investigation, is the sixth detainee to die this year at the Anna M. Kross Center.
The 19 deaths are the most since 2013, when there were 23 deaths, but that was when the jail population was significantly higher, at just under 12,000, compared to just under 6,000 this year.
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