A Rikers Island correction officer was indicted Friday for his role in the death of an inmate at the jail complex last year, authorities said.
The guard, Wickenson DeMaitre, pleaded not guilty and was released on a $50,000 bond, according to the Bronx district attorney’s office. DeMaitre was supposed to turn himself in on August 11, but didn’t. An attorney for DeMaitre declined to comment.
The charges against DeMaitre, including second-degree falsifying business records and official misconduct, stemmed from the death of 53-year-old Victor Woods on October 1, 2014. Woods started convulsing in his cell overnight and DeMaitre, who was sitting at his post at the Anna M. Kross Center at the time, said he called for a medical team.
Surveillance video, however, apparently showed DeMaitre took no action, according to the DA’s office.
Other inmates flagged down another officer, and she alerted the medical team. Woods died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage, the DA’s office said.
If convicted, DeMaitre faces up to four years in prison.
His next court appearance is scheduled for December 1. A pair of correction officers pleaded not guilty earlier this month after they were accused of recruiting inmates at Rikers to beat up another prisoner to teach him a lesson.
