{"id":309629,"date":"2026-07-30T09:51:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T09:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/309629\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T09:51:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T09:51:56","slug":"nyc-man-dies-in-city-custody-at-bronx-courthouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/309629\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC man dies in city custody at Bronx courthouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 29-year-old New York man died shortly after he was found unresponsive in a Bronx courtroom holding cell and subsequently transferred to Lincoln Hospital on July 24, and now his family wants answers. According to his supporters, Julian Pagan could not immediately pay a newly set bail of $200 cash or $400 bond and was scheduled to go back to Rikers Island for assault charges dating back to last summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly hours before his death, he was in court with me,\u201d said Samantha Brugger, Pagan\u2019s Legal Aid attorney. \u201cHe was alert, engaged, and showed no signs that he was experiencing a medical emergency. Upon learning that he would be returned to Rikers Island, Mr. Pagan spoke with his father in what would become one of their final conversations. His father told him to \u2018hang in there\u2019 and reminded him that he loved him. The prospect of returning to Rikers deeply distressed Mr. Pagan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Pagan\u2019s family deserves answers. No family should be left to learn that a loved one entered the city\u2019s custody alive, only to be told hours later that he had died. The city must provide a full and transparent accounting of what happened to Mr. Pagan while he was in its custody, and it must do so without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> on social media, Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed an investigation will be made through the DOC and the agency\u2019s oversight partners. DOC commissioner Stanley Richards also provided a short statement: \u201cWe are deeply saddened by this tragedy, and we share our condolences with Mr. Pagan\u2019s loved ones. We will investigate the circumstances of this death in coordination with city and state authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pagan is at least the fifth person to die in DOC custody this year, according to advocates. While most detention-related deaths occur after incarceration on Rikers Island, Freedom Agenda Co-Director Darren Mack said every \u201ctouch point\u201d in the criminal legal justice system plays a role. \u201cThe courts, the NYPD, and the Department of Correction have to utilize all the tools within the tool belt to reduce the population,\u201d he said over the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout his first year in office, Mamdani has assembled a team to address the crisis in New York City jails. Commissioner Richards, Close Rikers czar Dana Kaplan, and Criminal Justice Coordinator Justine Olderman all echoed many of the overlooked demands that advocates like Mack called for during the previous Adams administration, when at least 48 people died in or immediately after DOC custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These appointments also coincide with a federal judge appointing Nicholas Deml as a remediation manager over the DOC, granting him sweeping authority to implement the reforms needed to fix city jail safety conditions.<\/p>\n

However, the same advocates who welcomed the Mamdani administration\u2019s efforts on Rikers Island also remain frustrated with a perceived \u201ccarryover\u201d in policing policy from the Adams administration. They point to persisting low-level enforcement, which they call \u201cbroken windows policing,\u201d feeding into an already overburdened court and jail system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be no excuses for this anymore,\u201d said Mack in an earlier statement. \u201cMayor Mamdani ran on a plan to emphasize community safety over the failed law-and-order policies of the Adams administration. How does a young man dying in a cell in a courthouse make our communities safer?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone involved in this tragedy needs to be reflecting on this question, from the guards ignoring the people in their custody, to the judge who chose to set bail and send this young man to Rikers, to the NYPD who are flooding our court system with arrests on low-level charges.\u201d<\/p>\n

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