A Rikers detainee has died, marking second death in DOC custody this week

A man died on Rikers Island early Tuesday morning after a medical emergency, according to the Department of Correction. He is the second person to die in DOC custody in less than a week.

Clarence Woodward, 41, died at the jail’s Robert N. Davoren Center around 5:40 a.m., according to DOC officials. The department did not detail what kind of medical emergency Woodward experienced, but said that a corrections officer conducting a tour around 5 a.m. called other officers to render aid. EMS came shortly afterwards, and pronounced Woodward dead at the scene, according to the DOC.

In a statement, Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards offered condolences to Woodward’s family and said the “tragedy will be thoroughly investigated.”

He is at least the seventh person to die in DOC custody so far this year. His death comes just days after 36-year-old Christopher Rodriguez died at a Bellevue Hospital jail unit.

Court records show Woodward was arrested on Aug. 8, 2024 for murder and other charges in connection with a stabbing that killed one man and injured another at a Bronx laundromat. He was due back in court on Sept. 29.

As protocol dictates, the DOC said it notified multiple city and state agencies tasked with keeping an eye on the troubled jail complex, including its remediation manager, federal oversight monitor and the Board of Correction. The DOC also said they had communicated with the state Attorney General’s Office, the city Department of Investigation, the state Commission of Correction, the chief medical examiner's office, the Bronx district attorney and Woodward’s attorney. The medical examiner’s office will determine Woodward’s official cause of death.

Woodward’s attorney did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Gothamist.

At least 15 people died in the Department of Correction's custody in 2025. According to a report released early this year by the Rikers’ federal oversight monitor, most of the deaths had stemmed from issues like access to drugs, lapses in security and medical care, and inadequate supervision.