A 20-year-old man died following a court appearance in Queens Wednesday evening — the eighth person to die in city Department of Correction (DOC) custody this year, according to justice advocates.
Luis Alberto Lopez Castillo was found in medical distress by DOC staff at approximately 6:38 p.m. on Sept.1 6, according to DOC officials. Staff performed CPR until emergency medical services arrived.
Lopez Castillo was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:54 p.m.
“An individual in our care tragically passed away following a court appearance in Queens,” NYC DOC Commissioner Stanley Richards said in a statement. “This is a heartbreaking moment for me and the entire department. Our deepest condolences are with his family members and loved ones.”
The circumstances surrounding Lopez Castillo’s medical emergency and death were not immediately released.
“We will investigate the circumstances of this tragedy with city and state authorities,” Richards said.
After Lopez Castillo’s death, as per protocol, the department said it notified the remediation manager, federal monitor, the Board of Correction, the State Attorney General’s Office the city’s Department of Investigation, the state’s Commission of Correction, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, both the Queens and Bronx DAs and the deceased’s attorney.
His death sparked more outrage from activists, including Darren Mack, co-director of the Freedom Agenda, a group that advocates for decarceration and closing Rikers Island. He went as far as to call the correctional facility a “death camp.”
“Yet another family is now grieving, after the horrific loss of a young man who was only 20 years of age and was awaiting trial at Rikers for almost a year,” Mack said. “It’s past time to stop sending people into this death camp. We need urgent action from City Hall to substantially reduce the jail population and get people out of this hellhole – and this preventable death is yet another human cost of delay.”
According to court records, Lopez Castillo was arrested in Queens on July 10, 2025, on charges including robbery, grand larceny, assault, among other charges, all of which he had pleaded not guilty.
Records show that his case had proceeded through a list of hearings that had been repeatedly adjourned. His next court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 30.
Lopez Castillo’s death follows that of Clarence Woodward, who died less than a month ago on Rikers Island, as well as the death of Christopher Rodriquez, who was found in “medical distress” on Aug. 20 inside a new medical unit at Bellevue Hospital for people detained at the city’s main jail complex.
According to the Vera Institute, a research and advocacy organization that focuses on criminal justice reform, 15 people died in DOC custody in 2025.
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