Grieving family of NYC detainee who hanged himself at Rikers Island files wrongful death lawsuit
The grieving family of the latest detainee to die in New York City jails has filed a wrongful death claim against the Correction Department.
Erick Tavira, 28, used a bedsheet to hang himself about 2:15 a.m. on Saturday in a mental observation unit at the George R. Vierno Center at Rikers Island. He is the 17th person to die in custody this year.
The circumstances, including whether staff had been monitoring him, remain unclear and are under investigation.
“According to [the Correction Department’s] own version of events he never should have been able to take his life while in a mental observation unit,” said the family’s lawyer M.K. Kaishian.
Tavira’s family, in a statement to the Daily News, called him “strong, independent, positive, humble, brave and loving.”
“Erick was the glue and the light that brought our family together, and he has been stolen from us,” the statement said. “His huge heart was like a magnet to those around him.”
Tavira struggled with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as a teen, the family said.
“When he sought help from hospitals, courts, judges or systems, they failed him again and again,” the family said.
Kaishian said Tavira was arrested for assault on a police officer when he went to Metropolitan Hospital in East Harlem to seek treatment for his mental condition.
“He was actively seeking mental health care at the time and he was criminalized for it and now he’s dead,” Kaishian said.
Tavira was let go on supervised release and then arrested again June 13, 2021, for a misdemeanor. He was accused of attacking a 14-year-old boy without provocation in Washington Heights. At the time, Tavira was living at a homeless shelter on Randalls Island.
Facing assault and strangulation charges, Tavira was ordered held on $20,000 bail because of the previous charge of assaulting the officer, landing him at Rikers Island.
Tavira was optimistic on the phone with family during the 16 months at Rikers before his death, reminding his relatives to put funds in his commissary account right up until the week he died. But Kaishian said the family was also aware he wasn’t getting the treatment he needed while there.
“He was always checking in on us and putting our needs first,” the family said. “He eagerly looked forward to reuniting with us as a free person.”
Tavira volunteered at food pantries and was active in youth and summer programs. He adored reading and music and taught himself how to play guitar and piano. He also wrote poetry.
A rally in memory of Tavira and the 32 other people who have died in the jails since Jan. 1, 2021, is planned for Tuesday at City Hall.
“The Department of Correction has been on notice that the conditions in its jails are deplorable and deadly but has, at best, repeatedly refused to protect the people in its custody or meet their most basic needs,” the family said. “Meanwhile, others in power knowingly and continually send New Yorkers to [Correction Department] jails, places from which many, like our beloved Erick, will never come home alive.”
