Rikers Island has logged its 19th prisoner death in 2022 as the end of the year approaches, but a judge is still resisting efforts to turn the jail complex over to federal control.
Edgardo Mejias, 39, was found unresponsive in his cell on December 11 and subsequently declared dead of a suspected drug overdose. The New York Daily News reported that Mejias was arrested (as was his girlfriend) in September for shoplifting perfume. His bail had been set for $10,000. He also had a recent history of shoplifting charges and failing to show up for court dates.
