A person who was being held on Rikers Island died early Monday morning, marking the city jail system’s seventh death this year, officials said.
Anibal Carrasquillo, 40, was pronounced dead at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island around 1:30 a.m., the city’s Department of Correction said in a press release.
Carrasquillo's cause of death is under investigation, the department said.
Carrasquillo entered DOC custody on September 27, 2019 on a 1st degree robbery charge, officials said.
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of this individual,” DOC Commissioner Louis Molina said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”
“Every person in our custody is someone’s son, daughter, brother or sister, and it is an especially heartbreaking tragedy to learn that a loved one has passed away while incarcerated,” Molina added.
Carrasquillo's death came less than a month after 20-year-old Emanuel Sullivan was found dead in his bed at the Robert N. Davoren Center on Rikers Island.
Sullivan was the sixth person to die in custody on Rikers Island this year, according to the DOC.
Last year, 14 people died in DOC custody, officials said.