Dashawn Carter
Dashawn Carter, 25, died on May 7, 2022, while held at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island in New York City. The city Board of Correction's preliminary report says he had a history of mental health struggles, including a recommendation the previous year that he be placed on suicide watch, and that he was nonetheless placed in general population. The report says he was found hanging from a sheet tied to a window bar in his cell, and it questions why the bars were not identified as a risk. The state Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation lists the death as a suicide. His attorney, Kevin Sylvan, says the failures reflect a broader pattern and that Dashawn had not been given the chance to call his family before his death.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (neglect alleged). The Board of Correction's preliminary report says he was placed in general population despite a history of mental health struggles and a prior suicide watch recommendation, and questions why the cell's window bars were not identified as a risk; his attorney says the failures reflect a broader pattern.
Reported by: New York State Office of the Attorney General, Office of Special Investigation (outside investigators); city Board of Correction (outside investigators); Daily News (reporters); his attorney.