The city has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the estate of Tarzs Youngblood, a 38-year-old inmate at Rikers Island who died four years ago from an accidental overdose of fentanyl and heroin.
Lawyers for Mr. Youngblood’s estate argued in the lawsuit that a negligent atmosphere, inadequate staffing and improper medical treatment on Rikers contributed to Mr. Youngblood’s death.
Mr. Youngblood was in another inmate’s cell on Feb. 27, 2022, with other detainees when he became unresponsive. The other detainees carried him down the stairs and then attempted to provide him with emergency aid, according to a Correction Board report. Video footage reviewed by the board showed that correction officers did not make their expected rounds at the required intervals in the hours leading up to Mr. Youngblood’s death.
The report also states that medical staff arrived eight minutes after Mr. Youngblood was brought to the main floor by the other detainees. He was eventually transported to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The city’s medical examiner determined an accidental overdose was his cause of death.
“Fellow detainees were left to do what trained correction personnel should have done: recognize an emergency, respond immediately and try to save a human life,” said Samuel O. Maduegbuna, an attorney representing Mr. Youngblood’s estate. Mr. Youngblood had three children, Mr. Maduegbuna said.
A spokesman for the Department of Corrections directed The New York Times to the city’s Law Department. A spokesman for that department confirmed there was a settlement in principle and pointed to a filing on the court docket.
The settlement reached with the city is still subject to court approval.
Mr. Youngblood’s death was the first of 19 deaths in city jails in 2022. A New York Times article published months before Mr. Youngblood’s death depicted an atmosphere of chaos amid staffing issues stemming from the Covid pandemic.
Multiple city administrations have struggled to improve conditions at the jail. In July, the Mamdani administration appointed a “Close Rikers Czar” who is tasked with advancing the 2019 plan to overseeing the closure of Rikers, moving detainees to other jails and reducing the jail population, among other duties. The same month, a federal official submitted a plan to overhaul the jail.
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