Stephan Khadu
Stephan Khadu was 24 years old when he died on September 22, 2021, while in the custody of the New York City Department of Correction at the Vernon C. Bain Center, a jail vessel in the Bronx known as The Boat. The New York Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation lists his death as a medical death. His mother, Lezandre Khadu, says it was caused by complications of meningitis, an illness that may have been contracted in the jail, and that carelessness killed him. According to the Queens Daily Eagle, he had three seizures in 2021, and his family did not learn of his medical emergency until another person held with him called his sister to say he was being taken to the hospital, where they were not allowed to see him. His mother and sister later told the City Council that the Department of Correction told them very little.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). The Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation lists the death as medical, while his mother says complications of meningitis, a treatable illness possibly contracted in jail, killed him through carelessness, and his family says they were not told of his seizures or allowed to see him at the hospital.
Reported by: New York State Office of the Attorney General, Office of Special Investigation (outside investigators); his mother, Lezandre Khadu (family or their lawyers); his sister and mother, in testimony to the City Council (family or their lawyers).
News reports (4)
- New York Attorney General, Office of Special Investigation data tables
- Someone Jumped from New York City’s Floating Jail, “The Boat.” It’s Past Time to Close It.
- ‘I cried that whole night’: Families say DOC did little to tell them their loved ones died on Rikers
- Two suicides, three overdoses in 2025 Rikers death toll so far: Medical Examiner