A former Rikers Island correction officer won’t face charges in the 2022 death of an incarcerated person, even though the guard’s failure to render aid to the ailing man violated New York City Department of Correction policy and contributed to his death, the state attorney general’s office said.
Ezra Lewis, who was fired from his post immediately following the death of detainee Elijah Muhammad on July 10, 2022, observed Muhammad in a state of distress over several hours — including watching him “leaning against a wall and sliding down to the floor, clearly disoriented, unable to stand up, and apparently about to lose consciousness” — an inquiry by the AG’s office of special investigation found.
While Lewis’ failure to summon help or render aid constituted an omission of a legal duty, the office concluded, a prosecutor would be unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the failure caused Muhammad’s death. Muhammad, who was 31 at the time, died of “acute fentanyl intoxication,” according to an autopsy.
“Therefore, as the evidence is not sufficient to prove that CO Lewis committed, by omission, the crime of Criminally Negligent Homicide, OSI will not seek charges … and closes the matter with the issuance of this report,” the office wrote last week.
Muhammad’s death was among 19 fatalities at the Rikers jails complex, or shortly after a detainee’s release, in 2022. The deaths spurred concern over the delivery of routine medical care and emergency assistance at the city’s jails. They also fueled calls for better training of jail personnel and for a federal takeover of the troubled complex.
Sanford Rubenstein, an attorney representing Muhammad’s family, told Gothamist on Monday they would “continue to aggressively pursue civil litigation, which we have already commenced,” to hold accountable those he said were negligent in Muhammad’s death. Rubenstein noted there is a lesser burden of proof for civil plaintiffs, who must prove their claims based on the preponderance of evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Department of Correction did not immediately respond to a request for comment. New York City’s detainee death rate in 2022 was the highest it had been in a quarter-century, according to an analysis of city data by Gothamist.
Muhammad arrived on Rikers Island on June 9, 2022, after being charged with first-degree assault, according to the AG’s report. He died there a month and a day later.
During an initial intake assessment, Muhammad said he had recently used heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, alcohol and cannabis, and reported a prior mental health diagnosis, the AG’s report said. On the day he died, he was housed in Housing Area 5B in the George R. Vierno Center, a jail on Rikers Island. Lewis, a probationary correction officer, was the assigned officer for the “B” post.
At 2:56 p.m., according to the report, surveillance video showed Muhammad severely disoriented and falling to the floor, “and that CO Lewis saw him in this condition.” Minutes later, Lewis held Muhammad’s cell door open while other detainees helped Muhammad into his cell, which had a solid metal door and one vertical rectangular window. Training and DOC rules required Lewis to call a medical emergency or otherwise render aid, but he did neither, investigators found.
From 3:08 p.m. through 5:13 p.m., video showed Lewis went to Muhammad’s cell 10 times and looked inside, the report said. The video did not show that Lewis “conducted a round or came by or looked into … Muhammad’s cell between 5:13 p.m. and 9:43 p.m.”
Video showed that other detainees began to become alarmed by Muhammad’s condition just after 8 p.m., according to the AG’s office. It wasn’t until 9:43 p.m. that Lewis, “apparently alerted by an incarcerated person,” finally appeared at Muhammad’s cell, “seemed to understand the gravity of his condition” and began the process of obtaining medical aid.
“Although aid began at 9:48 p.m., Mr. Muhammad was declared dead at 10:30 p.m,” the report said.
The office of special investigation found Lewis failed to perform his duty to obtain medical care when he observed Muhammad “severely disoriented and apparently about to lose consciousness,” or nearly seven hours before medical help was ultimately provided.
Had Lewis acted sooner, Muhammad’s life could have been saved, “though the outcome would not have been guaranteed,” the AG’s report said, citing Michael Greenberg, a city medical examiner.
An autopsy showed the concentration of fentanyl in Muhammad’s blood was a fatal dose — possibly the result of receiving a second dose after he was placed in his cell. Prompt medical attention, including the anti-overdose drug Narcan, “might not have guaranteed his survival,” investigators found, based on Greenberg’s findings.
“However, Dr. Greenberg said that Narcan is administered to unconscious individuals and since Mr. Muhammad was responsive before being placed in his cell there appeared to be no reason to administer Narcan, unless Mr. Muhammad asked for it,” the report said.
Lewis was fired by the correction department on July 11, 2022, the day after Muhammad’s death. He declined to be interviewed as part of the AG’s inquiry, after being denied full immunity for his testimony.
Neither Lewis nor his legal counsel was immediately available for comment.