A Department of Correction captain and two correction officers have been suspended following the death of a detainee inside his Rikers Island cell early Saturday morning as investigators probe whether required checks were missed or if warning signs of medical distress went unnoticed, THE CITY has learned.
Ardit Billa, 29, was found dead inside his cell at approximately 12:25 a.m. during a standard cell-check tour at the jail complex’s George R. Vierno Center, the DOC announced over the weekend. Medical staff responded immediately, but Billa was pronounced dead just before 1:00 a.m., according to the department.
His sudden death is the tenth confirmed one of a person in DOC custody so far this year. The department’s policy mandates visual inspection of all cell tiers and cells every 30 minutes.
Billa’s aunt, who has been helping coordinate the family’s response, said the family remains in the dark and in shock.
“Every time we try to contact somebody, they put you on hold and they never answer you. That’s the problem I have,” she told THE CITY. “We have nothing. We just want to know what happened.”
She described her nephew as a kind, sociable young man who came to the U.S. with a green card eight years ago, chasing the American dream.
“He was a nice, sweet kid. He laughed, he smiled. He wasn’t a troublemaker,” she said. “He loved this country. He wanted to build a life here — maybe move to New Jersey or upstate New York one day, have a house with a white picket fence.”
According to his aunt, who asked that her name be withheld, Billa worked a series of construction and restaurant jobs to support himself and dreamed of hitting it big as a music composer.
“He wasn’t someone who wanted things handed to him. He wanted to do it on his own,” she said.
His family is now preparing to return his body to Albania for burial.
A jail source familiar with the death said Billa spent his last few days barely, if ever, leaving his cell. The source also said his body had feces on it.
A source familiar with his case said that he was diagnosed as schizophrenic by the DOC, based on his intake evaluation.
“We don’t believe that. That’s not him,” his aunt said. “He was a people’s person — he would make friends with the wall.”
Billa was being held in a so-called Program to Accelerate Clinical Effectiveness unit. That housing complex holds the most high-need detainees and is supposed to offer intense mental health programming.
“On behalf of the NYC Department of Correction, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Mr. Billa’s family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement on Saturday. “Any loss of life in our custody is a tragedy, and we are committed to a full review of the circumstances surrounding this incident.”
Unanswered Questions
The DOC, which did not immediately respond on Monday to questions about Bila’s death, has yet to release full details about his final hours.
The death is being probed, as all inmate deaths automatically are, by multiple government bodies including the Board of Correction, state Attorney General’s Office, Department of Investigation, state Commission of Correction and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
His aunt said the family was not allowed to view his body in person, only a photo showing what appeared to be bruising on his face.
“The medical examiner told us there were no external injuries. But looking at the picture, there’s clearly injuries on the bridge of the nose and the forehead,” she said.
The ME told the family that early signs show that he apparently suffered a fatal heart attack, according to the aunt.
The family is also struggling to retrieve his personal belongings, including a passport card and wallet. “They keep saying it was sent with the body, but then the coroner’s office says they don’t have it,” she said.
Billa had been held on Rikers since Feb. 23 after missing a court date tied to a slashing charge. He was accused of cutting a 52-year-old neighbor in the face with a razor during a feud inside his apartment building in East New York, Brooklyn, according to the criminal complaint.
He was initially released without bail and placed on supervised release. But an arrest warrant was issued after he missed his first court appearance, court records show. Cops nabbed him on Feb. 23 and he was held on $25,000 bail.
The Legal Aid Society — which was representing Billa — condemned his death behind bars, saying it underscores the ongoing crisis on Rikers.
“Rikers Island remains engulfed in a full-fledged humanitarian disaster,” Legal Aid, the city’s largest public defender group, said in a statement. “The daily suffering we hear from our clients — whether from deplorable facility conditions, denial of access to medical care, or staff violence — and the mounting deaths underscore why the status quo cannot continue and transformative change is needed.”
Earlier this month, Legal Aid and the DOC submitted potential candidates for the so-called “remediation manager” job to take over parts of Rikers Island.
Laura Taylor Swain, the chief district judge for Manhattan federal court, is overseeing the case and will ultimately decide on the candidate and how much power that person will have to reform the department.
Swain, who gave each side months to submit their candidates, has not publicly said when she will make her final decision. She has also specifically kept the potential candidates’ names off the public docket.
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