Rikers Island detainee, 49, dies in custody, marking second city jails death in four days

John Annese, New York Daily News on Mar 29, 2026

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NEW YORK — A suspected drug trafficker held on Rikers Island died in custody early Sunday, marking the second death in the city jail system in less than a week.

City Department of Correction officials said John Price, 49, was being held without bail at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers when he needed medical attention around 5:40 p.m. Saturday. Correction officials did not say why he needed medical aid.

He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died about 12 hours later.

“The Department mourns the loss of an individual who passed away in our care. The safety, support, and well-being of every person entrusted to us are of the highest importance,” DOC Commissioner Stanley Richards said Sunday. “This loss weighs heavily on all of us and our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones.”

Price is the second death in the jails this year; Barry Cozart, a burglary suspect being held at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island, died Wednesday.

“I’m saddened to learn that a New Yorker in city custody died early this morning. He was transferred from Rikers Island to Elmhurst Hospital yesterday evening, where he was receiving medical attention,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement on social media Sunday.

“My thoughts are with his family and loved ones as they endure this profound loss. Every person in our city’s care deserves dignity, safety, and access to quality medical treatment — without exception,” Mamdani stated. “Transparency is essential and the Department of Correction and oversight partners have begun an investigation into the circumstances of his death.”

Price was arrested in December 2024 on charges of operating as a major trafficker, criminal sale of a controlled substance, conspiracy and attempted criminal possession of a weapon — busted after a two-year investigation the Queens D.A.’s office referred to as “Operation the Price is Right.”

He was accused of running a crew that dealt crack, powder cocaine, heroin and fentanyl throughout Jamaica, Queens.

Last year, 15 detainees died in city Department of Correction custody, and the most recent report by the independent federal monitor assigned to the city jails lamented that reform efforts at the troubled jail complex have been moving at a “glacial pace.”

“Internal and external obstacles, pervasive poor practices, and an entrenched culture that opposes and/or resists reform continue to hobble the Department’s ability to materially improve the jails’ conditions with the necessary level of urgency,” the report reads.

After Cozart’s death, Mamdani declared that “Rikers must close, and we will pursue every avenue to do so as quickly as possible.”