DOC custody deaths: Two people died while in custody on Rikers Island this week, bringing the total number of city Department of Corrections (DOC) deaths this year to 12, more than double the five people who died in DOC custody during all of 2024.

On Saturday, a few days after he was arrested for shooting three people at an apartment complex in the Bronx, Jimmy Avila suffered an unspecified medical episode. He was pronounced dead at 4:29 p.m. The DOC reported Avila’s age as 34, but a police spokesperson identified him as 44 years old.

On Wednesday night, an unnamed man was discovered having a seizure in his cell at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. Medical staff responded but were unable to save him. He was pronounced dead at 7:50 p.m.

“With each of these death

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