Eugene (Sonny) Castelle
Eugene (Sonny) Castelle, 27, of Staten Island, had spent months in drug rehabilitation in Florida, and his mother, Lucille Tirado, said he was doing well and wanted to return to sober living. He had two sisters and had worked at a barbershop. He was brought to Rikers Island after an arrest in Florida and was found unresponsive in his cell at the Anna M. Kross Center on November 8, 2016, and efforts to revive him failed. His mother has filed a notice of claim saying he was denied medical help hours earlier; the Correction Department has not addressed that claim in detail, citing an investigation and pending litigation. The medical examiner had not released a cause of death.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined (disputed; neglect alleged). The medical examiner has not released a cause of death, and his mother, Lucille Tirado, has filed a notice of claim saying he was denied medical help hours before he was found unresponsive.
Reported by: Correction Department (the agency that held him); city medical examiner's office (medical examiner or coroner); his mother's notice of claim (family or their lawyers); New York Daily News (reporters).