Another Man Died At Rikers As Lawmakers Voted On Parole Bill That Might Have Saved Him patch.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from patch.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
At around 2 p.m. on Thursday, lawmakers in the state Senate began voting to overhaul New York’s parole system following years of lobbying from experts and advocates.
Two hours later, a correction officer found Jose Mejia Martinez locked up on a parole violation tied to an arrest for swiping beer dead in his cell inside the George Motchan Detention Center on Rikers Island.
Mejia Martinez, 34, became the third person jailed on a parole violation after a new arrest on a low-level offense to die on Rikers in less than two months.
None of the causes of death have been determined yet.
State lawmakers have announced a deal to overhaul New York’s parole system to limit when parolees could be re-jailed. The move comes days after THE CITY revealed the April deaths of two men sent back to jail for low-level arrests.