A Rikers Island detainee was found dead in his cell Saturday marking New York City's sixth in-custody fatality of this year.
Corrections officers found William Johnstone, 47, unresponsive inside his George R. Vierno jail unit at around 1:50 p.m.
He was rushed to Mount Sinai Queens Hospital where he was declared dead at 3:50 p.m.
The Department of Correction said that Johnstone's cause of death will be determined by the city's medical examiner's office.
They revealed that the inmate was in custody since last March when he was arrested on charges that included robbery, and weapons possession.
Johnstone's death is the sixth of a New York City inmate this year, the Correction Department noted. In 2022, nineteen detainees died in the department's custody.
