Rikers Detainee Endured ‘Horrible Conditions’ Before Dying in Cell, Jails Overseer Finds

Missing blankets and sheets. No pillows. Limited food and exercise. That’s what a new father jailed on a parole violation stemming from a shoplifting arrest faced before becoming the first of three men to die at Rikers since April.

Rikers Detainee Endured ‘Horrible Conditions’ Before Dying in Cell, Jails Overseer Finds

By Reuven Blau, THE CITY A detainee was held in “horrible conditions” — no pillows, blankets or regular food — in an intake pen on Rikers Island for several days before his death in April, according to the city’s jail oversight board. Thomas Earl Braunson III, a 35-year-old new father jailed on a parole violation […]