Rikers Island Female Inmate Dies After Jail Staff Blocks Medical Help

According to the Legal Aid Society, 23-year-old Bronx resident Charizma Jones was a Rikers Island inmate. She was serving a 1-year sentence for assault. On May 5, 2024, and May 6, 2024, the Correctional Medical Services staff treated Charizma for a 102-degree fever, vomiting, a sore throat, chills, and a rash covering her body. Legal Aid reports that staff assumed she had scarlet fever, and she was given antibiotics, including amoxicillin, and a steroid as treatment.

According to the medical reports, a DOC staff member refused to allow medical workers to obtain vitals for Charizma, stating she was a “security risk” after allegedly assaulting an officer. The medical report reads:

“Several attempts were made to do vitals. DOC officer on duty refused to opn (sic) cell.”

On May 6, 2024, within an hour of the medical staff being refused to take her vitals, Charizma was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital, where she remained hospitalized for months.

Staff continued to treat her for scarlet fever, but Charizma had a history of liver failure and a possible allergic reaction to the amoxicillin.

According to the medical records, on July 10, 2024, a physician with the NY Presbyterian Weill Cornell Burn Center declared her skin condition was worsening along with multiple organ failure, making survival unlikely.

Charizma Jones died on July 14, 2024.

Although the DOC has refused to release a statement regarding her death, Mayor Eric Admas stated at a press conference Tuesday, “Anytime you lose someone, no matter if they’re incarcerated or not, it’s just, it’s terrible. There should be a review. If there was someone that blocked her medical care, I don’t know of a time that you should block someone’s medical care.”

Attorney MK Kaishian, representing the Jones family told the NY Post, “Many troubling questions surround Ms. Jones’ death, and we join the Legal Aid Society in calling for a thorough investigation by the Board of Correction as we continue to gather critical information on behalf of her family. But whatever else may be revealed going forward, it is patently obvious that the [Department of Correction] denied medical care to a seriously ill person, and there is no excuse whatsoever for this contemptuous and inhumane conduct.”

Charizma JonesPhoto byFacebook- Mercedes King