A Rikers Island correction officer was suspended for failing to provide lifesaving aid to a detainee who had a seizure in a jail cell and died last month — the night before the man was scheduled to move to an upstate prison, according to city records and officials.

Carlos Cruz, 43, was part of a backlog of jail detainees across New York awaiting transfer to state prisons in the wake of a weekslong unsanctioned strike by state correction officers earlier this year.

The officer’s suspension and the timing of Cruz’s prison move emerged in a preliminary death report by the city Board of Correction, which Gothamist obtained through a public records request. Those details were confirmed by state and city correction officials.

City officials said they’re still investigating Cruz’s Sept. 3 death, but noted the officer — who is not named in the report — was suspended for 30 days in connection with the death. Cruz was supposed to be transferred to Green Haven Correctional Facility in Dutchess County the day after he died, in order to finish out a five-year sentence for attempted arson.

Cruz was the 12th and latest person in 2025 to die at or shortly after release from Rikers, which faces a court-appointed “remediation manager” and a potential federal takeover amid long-standing reports of abuse, violence, drug use and sexual misconduct among inmates and guards. The notorious jail complex has had more than twice the number of detainee deaths this year as during all of last year.

The Board of Correction report states that, as Cruz lay on the floor bleeding from his mouth, the officer shouted his name multiple times but did not perform CPR or chest compressions. By the time medical staff arrived, Cruz’s fingers had turned purple and he was drooling. The staff gave him CPR and multiple rounds of the overdose antidote Narcan and epinephrine, but could not revive him. Cruz was pronounced dead less than two hours later.

Surveillance video had captured Cruz and other detainees congregating in one of the cells, according to the report. It showed the officer assigned to the unit “conducting inconsistent tours,” ignoring obstructed cell windows and never telling the detainees to disperse. About 45 minutes later, detainees informed the officer that Cruz was having a seizure.

“No one should lose their life over that,” Cruz’s attorney Michael Vitaliano said in an interview, adding that his client had a history of seizures and had been waiting a few months for his prison transfer. “The fact that he wasn't attended to sooner, I think, says a lot.”

More than 350 detainees were awaiting transfers to state prisons on the day Cruz died, according to city jail officials and data tracked by John Jay College’s Data Collaborative for Justice. That was more than three times the amount before the strike. The number of detainees in limbo ballooned for months after state prison workers walked off the job in defiance of their union. The number peaked at more than 880 between mid-June and mid-July and, at one point, more than 10% of Rikers’ population was stuck awaiting transfer.

Jail officials did not specify whether the officer is now back at work. The union that represents city correction officers did not immediately provide comment on the case Wednesday. The city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did not respond to multiple inquiries on Cruz’s cause of death.

The report says the correction officer was also suspended for failing to “conduct meaningful tours” and “ensure that the housing area doors were secure.”

Cruz came to Rikers in April 2024 after being charged with a series of domestic violence incidents on Staten Island, including an attempted arson at a woman’s home. His death report says he bounced around different facilities on the island and was cited for 26 total violations for fighting with other detainees, attempting to assault staff, using a weapon and disobeying orders. Cruz eventually landed at the George R. Vierno Center, where he stayed until he died.

“His plan was to turn his life around,” Vitaliano said. “He was truly ready to go upstate, take advantage of the programs and come out and be a different man.”

Vitaliano said Cruz had “struggled mightily” for years with few family ties, a frayed relationship with his ex-girlfriend and a child he was no longer allowed to see. But toward the end of his legal case, the attorney noticed a change in his client.

“He was focused on the right things. He was saying the right things. When he was in court, there was a shift, how he spoke to me, how he spoke to the judge, how he handled himself,” Vitaliano said.

Vitaliano said he found out about Cruz's death after jail officials emailed him asking him to give them a call. He said it was the first time one of his clients had died in city custody.

“ I think the conditions need to change,” he said of Rikers.