City Pays $3.5 Million To Family Of Man Who Was Allegedly Denied Epilepsy Meds At Rikers

Carmen Perez is surrounded by family as she holds a portrait of her late son, Rolando Perez, who died at Rikers Island in 2014.

New York City is paying out $3.5 million in a settlement to Alexis Rodriguez, who says her boyfriend, the late Rolando Perez, had his epilepsy medication withheld by Correction officers while he was at Rikers Island, The New York Daily News reports.

Perez, who resided in the Bronx, was at Rikers in early 2014 for a burglary charge but hadn't been convicted. He died in solitary confinement that same year, at the age of 36. Perez had been placed in solitary after allegedly getting into a fight.

In a harrowing video obtained by ABC7, inmates say that they heard Perez "screaming" for his medication. Following his death, an autopsy showed that he died from heart problems and a seizure, the outlet reports. Later, Perez's family said they would be suing the city. After Perez's death, one officer was fired and another was "disciplined," the Department of Correction told Gothamist in an email statement.

The News reports that the city settled the case last week. Rodriguez's lawyer, Jeffrey Guzman, did not immediately respond to Gothamist's request for comment.

"We care deeply about the health and well-being of all individuals in our custody," DOC Spokesperson Peter Thorne said in a statement provided to Gothamist. "The city has also replaced its healthcare provider for people in custody.” In 2016, New York Health and Hospitals officially took over the duties of providing care for people in the city's jails from the scandal-plagued private contractor Corizon.

The de Blasio administration is aiming to close Rikers Island over the next decade and open four new jails in four boroughs, despite community opposition and the recent revelation that there has been an an uptick in the number of people jailed at Rikers for technical parole violations.