NEW YORK — A Rikers Island detainee died on Sunday night, the 11th death this year of an inmate on the city’s scandal-plagued jail complex.

The Department of Correction (DOC) said Isaabdul Karim, 42, who they said was in custody at the North Infirmary Command (NIC) on Rikers Island, died at approximately 7:25 p.m. Sunday.

According to the DOC, Isaabdul was being held on a state parole violation and entered custody on Aug. 18.

In a statement, Department of Correction Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi said the death so far “appears to be natural,” and that an investigation is underway.

The cause of death is currently under investigation and will be confirmed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Department of Correction officials said the detainee “was not feeling well” and a medical emergency was declared. The person was taken to a facility clinic, where CPR was rendered. The detainee was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

“Providing for the safety of incarcerated people is our core mission, and I am heartbroken that we have seen yet another death of a human being entrusted to our care,” Schiraldi said in a statement.

Before he was in medical distress, Karim spent 10 days in a Rikers Island intake cell, crowded along with other detainees. While in intake — a place where detainees are not supposed to be in for more than 24 hours — he contracted COVID-19.

Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters Monday that the circumstances surrounding Karim's death were under investigation, and he pointed to recent reforms and staffing increases at the Department of Correction as evidence that the city is responding to the ongoing crisis.

"We are investigating everything related to that tragedy," de Blasio said. "It's horrible."

Rikers Island is currently in the middle of a staffing and management crisis that threatens everyone's safety on at the jail complex. Advocates, public defenders and lawmakers agree the city has been slow to respond.

Zachary Katznelson, the executive director at the Independent Commission on NYC Criminal Justice & Incarceration Reform, said any detainee on Rikers should have no problem accessing medical attention, but a staff shortage to properly escort people in and out of the facility is creating a dangerous situation for staff, leading to delays and detainees not getting proper care.

"The reality is right now on Rikers, it is a threat every day to human life. It's a threat to people who are incarcerated," Katznelson said. "Eleven people since December — that is not what anyone accused of a crime should be receiving. No one is sentenced to death by being accused of a crime."

Although the mayor has yet to visit Rikers for himself, his administration took additional action Monday, filing a lawsuit against the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association (COBA), which represents rank-and-file officers on the island.

In the lawsuit, the city is accusing the union of encouraging a "campaign of mass absenteeism that constitutes an illegal strike."

"Some members of the workforce are doing the wrong thing and letting down their fellow officers by being AWOL," de Blasio said. "They will be suspended immediately, as dozens have been."

According to the administration, there has been a dramatic increase in AWOL rates among officers this year. The AWOL rate among officers is at 2,304 instances per month, an increase of 198% from the previous year when the average was 773 instances per month.

COBA President Benny Boscio called the suit frivolous.

"If anyone is well-versed in violating the law, it’s our criminally negligent Mayor, who hasn’t done his job for the past eight years," Boscio said in a statement. "We call on all labor unions in New York and anyone who supports essential workers, to tell Mayor de Blasio to stop union busting and to start making our jails safer today for everyone.”

For months, officials have struggled to respond to a growing crisis at Rikers stemming from a lack of proper staffing and a growing jail population. Ten other detainees have died while in custody — five of them by suicide.

Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the “Less Is More Act” into law and authorized the emergency release of 191 technical parole violation detainees and the transfer of approximately 200 detainees from the island to state-run facilities. The move was meant to alleviate crowding conditions. So far, the city has released 165 people.

As part of its lawsuit, the city is demanding each union officer in leadership to be fined $1 million for engaging in what City Hall calls a work slowdown.

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