The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is investigating how a man died while incarcerated at Lower Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday morning — the city’s second in-custody death of its kind in less than a week.
Police say the 43-year-old man — whose name has yet to be released — was found unconscious and unresponsive inside a holding cell at 100 Centre St. at around 8 a.m. on March 26. EMS rushed him to NewYork-Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Sources with knowledge of the incident report that the man had been arrested the evening prior, March 25, inside the Times Square-42nd Street subway station after he was spotted holding the emergency door open. Once stopped by transit cops, they found him to have at least two outstanding warrants for his arrest. The sources said he was also found in alleged possession of a controlled substance.
Police brought the man to the courthouse’s Central Booking around 10 p.m. Tuesday night. Sources said he was found, still faintly breathing, Wednesday morning before being rushed to the hospital.
The exact cause of his death remains unknown and will be determined by the medical examiner.
The Legal Aid Society, who say they represented the suspect, railed against law enforcement following his death. Including deaths at Rikers Island and other correctional facilities around the city, six individuals have died while in custody so far in 2025, the society reported; it blasted the Adams administration for failing to “publicly address what actions are being taken to prevent such tragedies.”
“The ongoing indifference shown by law enforcement toward justice-involved New Yorkers is deeply troubling,” the Legal Aid Society said in its statement. “We call for an immediate, comprehensive, and impartial investigation into this most recent death in custody. In each of these heartbreaking incidents, the City continues to block access to even the most basic information about what occurred, denying counsel, the family, and the public rightful transparency. This conduct is unacceptable.”
The Manhattan courthouse death comes five days after Soso Ramishvili, 32, of Avenue X in Brooklyn was found unconscious and unresponsive inside a holding cell of the courthouse at 120 Schermerhorn St. in Downtown Brooklyn.
Ramishvili, who was arrested for stealing power tools, was found slumped over when a medical team attempted to retrieve him to no avail; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a joint statement, the Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defenders alleged that Ramishvili had been allowed to languish “in pain in custody for three days and was deprived of medical care despite repeated pleas from defense lawyers and other personnel to secure them needed care.”
Police contested this narrative, stating that police had whisked Ramishvili to the hospital multiple times over a three-day period, but medical staff ultimately released him back into their custody each time.
