NEW YORK — New York City has agreed to pay $3.8 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of a Rikers Island inmate who swallowed a toxic soap packet and was ignored by jail staff for hours as he pleaded for medical help.
The inmate, Jason Echevarria, was 25 when he died in 2012 and had a history of behavioral problems linked to bipolar disorder. His case, one of several Rikers deaths involving inmates with mental illness in recent years, helped draw the attention of officials and the news media to the deep dysfunction at city jails.
Josh Kelner, a lawyer for Echevarria’s family, confirmed the settlement Tuesday, saying it was not “a happy event for the family,” but would bring a measure of closure.
“They hope the attention that this tragedy brought to the broken system at Rikers will play a role in ensuring that nothing like this happens to anyone else again,” Kelner said.
In June, Terrence Pendergrass, a former Rikers captain who was on duty the night of the death, was sentenced to five years in prison after federal prosecutors accused him of violating Echevarria’s civil rights through “deliberate indifference.”
The city’s Correction Department has struggled with how to handle rising numbers of inmates with mental illness, who now make up 40 percent of the Rikers population.
City spokeswoman Monica Klein said corrections officials have moved to address issues raised by the deaths of Echevarria and others.