A man being held on Rikers Island died early Saturday, the 10th inmate being housed in city jails to die this year.
City Department of Correction officials confirmed the death, claiming inmate Ardit Billa was found “unresponsive in his cell” at the George R. Vierno Center at 12:25 a.m.
DOC officers conducting a tour of the cells rendered aid as medical support was called, but Billa died just before 1 a.m.
Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie promised a “full review of the circumstances surrounding the incident.” An autopsy has been slated to determine a cause of death.
Billa, 29, had been on Rikers since Feb. 23, according to the DOC website.
He was initially arrested on Jan. 22 after he was accused of slashing a 52-year-old neighbor in the face and lip with a razor during a fight inside his Liberty Ave. apartment building in East New York, Brooklyn.
His victim was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries.
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Author: Joe Weber
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