Donny Ubiera is the seventh person held on Rikers Island to die this year and the eighth to die in or immediately after NYC Department of Corrections (DOC) custody. The 33-year-old was found unresponsive in his cell at the George R. Vierno Center (GRVC) jail this past Tuesday, Aug. 22. He entered DOC custody this past March and his death is currently under investigation as of press time, according to a department spokesperson.
The Legal Aid Society said Ubiera was a client of the practice and called for a “sweeping investigation” that would be fully transparent for the deceased’s next of kin.
“Close scrutiny should be paid to whether correctional staff and supervisors were actively engaged in supervising the housing area and conducting required tours,” wrote a Legal Aid spokesperson. “The federal monitor has found that staff and supervisors’ chronic failure to perform basic custodial duties has been a factor in many of the recent deaths. We await an immediate response from DOC on this tragic passing.”
Legal Aid also represented the plaintiffs who sued the city over jail conditions in the Nunez litigation, which ultimately led to ongoing reforms at Rikers. Earlier this month, the federal judge presiding over the case opened the door for a third-party receiver to take over Rikers and implement the improvements legally mandated in the consent decree. Such a move would take control of the complex out of the city’s hands temporarily.
A Campaign to Close Rikers organizer—Freedom Agenda’s Ashley Conrad—recalled knowing Ubiera when they were youngsters living in Queens.
“Growing up together in Jackson Heights, I saw Donny suffering from mental health issues and being thrown in and out of jail most of his life,” said Conrad. “He deserved help and love. He deserved to grow old surrounded by people who cared about him, not on Rikers Island, a trash dump in the backyard of this city that failed him. This place is devastating families and taking people from everyone’s hood – my hood, your hood, it doesn’t care.”
Ubiera’s case was highly publicized last year by bail reform opponents after he was released from custody shortly before he was arrested for two separate, alleged knife attacks.
Last month, three people died in Rikers, including two Black New Yorkers also held at the GRVC. Another Black New Yorker—Ricky Howell—also died in DOC custody in July but at a Manhattan hospital facility due to terminal cancer.
Rikers Island is legally scheduled to close by the end of August 2027, just roughly four years from now.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.