Eight years ago, Ken Loadholt was told by New York Ciity officials that his identical twin brother, John, had died of an asthma attack at the Rikers Island jail while awaiting trial on drug possession charges. DNAinfo reports that it wasn’t until this month that he learned his brother actually died as the result of systemic failures by city correction officers and the health care company contracted by Rikers Island. “Loadholt's asthma was inadequately managed by Prison Health Services, a business corporation holding itself out as a medical care provider,” Frederick Lamy of the State Commission of Correction wrote of Loadholt’s death.
The report found that Rikers guards failed to follow the rules when Loadholt told them he had difficulty breathing. Loadholt collapsed on the walk and died. “I'm pissed off that this was never forwarded to my family,” said Ken Loadholt, a correction officer in New Jersey. “I didn't know there was an investigation as to what happened.” Three other families of Rikers inmates who died in custody over the past decade were also never told the true circumstances surrounding the deaths. The information could have led to legal action against the city and PHS, which is now known as Corizon. DNAinfo obtained the four reports through a Freedom of Information Law request.