The Bronx District Attorney’s Office will not pursue criminal charges in the death of a Yonkers transgender woman last year at Rikers Island, officials said Friday.

District Attorney Darcel Clark said her office would not prosecute the case involving 27-year-old Layleen Cubilette-Polanco, a Afro-Latinx woman who died from an epileptic seizure last June while in punitive segregation — commonly referred to as solitary confinement — at the city jail complex.

Polanco went to the health clinic on the morning of June 7 and ate lunch just after 12 p.m. Staffers who observed her that afternoon said they thought she was sleeping until one officer knocked on her cell door at 2:40 p.m. and did not hear a response.

An hour and five minutes later, Polanco was pronounced dead.

The city’s Department of Investigation said Friday it did not find any evidence that Correction Department staffers contributed to Polanco’s death — but it did note that there was a 47-minute gap between tours.

Officers are supposed check in on people held in punitive segregation every 15 minutes, according to Correction Department protocol.

Polanco’s death sparked weeks of protests and demands for an investigation. Her mother also sued the city, claiming that officers at the Rose M. Singer Center where her daughter was detained left her unsupervised for hours at a time even though they were aware of her medical condition.

https://yonkersnewswire.com/index.php/2020/06/06/bronx-district-attorney-will-not-pursue-charges-in-the-death-of-transgender-yonkers-woman-layleen-polanco-at-rikers-island-by-brian-harrod/