The families of two men who died in New York City custody within two days of each other have filed notices they intend to sue the city, records show.
Jimmy Avila, the 44-year-old brother of a Department of Correction captain, hanged himself Aug. 30 in a Rikers Island jail after being left unattended while experiencing a mental breakdown, according to the claim.
Christopher Nieves, 46, died Aug. 28 in police custody at Brooklyn Criminal Court where he was being held after he was arrested for stealing food. His family’s lawyers claim he begged for medical help but he was ignored for hours before he died.
The city’s Law Department declined comment in both cases.
In Nieves’ case, after he was arrested for theft, he was in dire need of medical attention, the family alleges. He was passing in and out of consciousness, had possible jaundice — a yellowing of the skin — and showing disorganized speech and thinking.
Christopher Nieves, 46, died in custody while awaiting arraignment at Brooklyn Criminal Court. (Courtesy of Candice Nieves)
Before he was booked, cops took Nieves to Woodhull Hospital but he was soon discharged, the family alleges. Nieves asked repeatedly for the police to return him to the hospital, and cops even pledged to his public defender, Claire Thomas, that they would do so, the claim alleges.
Instead, he was left alone for hours and died, the claim alleges.
“Losing Christopher has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through,” said Candice Nieves, his sister. “His death could have been prevented. I cry every day thinking about what he went through.”
Added Tina Luongo, chief attorney of the criminal defense practice at Legal Aid, “Christopher Nieves’ death in NYPD custody this August was a devastating and entirely preventable tragedy.
“We said then, and repeat now, that no human being should be left to die in a cell while waiting to see a judge, especially when the person and his attorneys repeatedly called for medical treatment. The system failed Christopher at every turn.”
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment, nor did it reply to a request for statistics on police-custody deaths over the past three years. Public defender groups have placed the figure at nine in 2025.
The Nieves family is being represented by attorneys David Rankin and Jeremy Ravinsky.
Avila’s suicide is one of 13 jail-related deaths so far in 2025, the highest number since there were 19 in 2022, the first year of Mayor Adams’ tenure.
Courtesy of Kingan Mayers
Jimmy Avila is taken into custody on College Ave. in the Bronx after a triple shooting on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Kingan Mayers)
A Board of Correction report issued Nov. 5 took DOC to task over recurring breakdowns in management of staff in the first five jail deaths of 2025. One of those deaths was also a suicide by hanging.
Avila meanwhile was on Rikers Island awaiting assignment to a jail after his arrest for fatally shooting his building super and wounding two others. He had been taken to a Lincoln Hospital psych ward and then his arraignment.
At Avila’s arraignment, a judge ordered DOC to have a psychiatric exam done. But, according to the claim, Avila was abandoned for hours, giving him the chance to take his own life.
“What happened to our brother Jimmy should never happen to any individual under the care of our judicial system,” said Alex Avila, another brother of the deceased man.
Rankin, who is also representing Avila’s family, said the city has yet to provide any documents in the case or contacted the family: “The city’s silence is unacceptable,” said Rankin, who is handling the case along with lawyers Ravinsky and Sarena Townsend.
The Correction Department did not reply to a request for comment on Avila’s death.