A man held on Rikers Island over accuations he beat to death his roommate in a Bronx drug treatment center died early Monday of a possible allergic reaction — the 15th city jails-linked death this year, officials said.
Kyron Randall, 33, was taken to Elmhurst Hospital about 12:10 a.m. after going into medical distress at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. He died at the hospital just before 1 .a.m., officials said. A possible allergic reaction is suspected in his death.
Randall was arrested in 2023 for beating Christopher Ames at the BronxCare Life Recovery Center on Fulton Ave. near E. 169th St. in Morrisania while the vicitm slept, police said at the time. After Ames died 11 days later, the assault charge was upgraded to murder.
Ames suffered several skull fractures in the assault. It is not clear why Randall attacked Ames.
Court records show a judge ordered Randall to a psychiatric facility in March 2024 following his arrest for Ames murder in 2023. He spent four months in the psychiatric facility before being moved to Rikers Island in July 2024.
Randall, records show, had one previous arrest, for setting a fire in a NYCHA development in 2016. He pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and spent a year behind bars.
Randall is the fourth detainee assigned to the Vierno Center die in 2025, the most of any individual city jail, records show. Three detainees held at another Rikes Island jail, the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, died in 2025. No other jails in the city’s system have had more than two deaths this year.
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Todd Maisel/New York Daily News An aerial view of the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City. (Todd Maisel / New York Daily News)
The 2025 jail death toll of 15 is also the highest since 2022, the first year of Mayor Adams’ tenure, when there were 19 deaths.
“An individual in the department’s care has tragically passed away,” said Correction Department Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie. “As we investigate this incident, we keep Mr. Randall’s loved ones in our prayers. This matter will be thoroughly investigated.”
Darren Mack of Freedom Agenda, a group that advocates for the jail population, noted it is the 48th jail death during Adams’ time in office.
“As we head into the holidays, another family is grieving, and thousands more are worried sick about their loved ones who are suffering at Rikers instead of celebrating with them,” Mack said. “But that is Mayor Adams’ legacy — he took a place that was already creating such immense harm in our communities, and managed to make it even worse.
“We know very clearly what we need from our incoming mayor, Mack added, referring to Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani. “Urgent action to stop sending people to this death camp, invest in real community safety, and finally get Rikers closed.”
The Board of Correction, the state Attorney General’s office and other agencies conduct reviews of jail deaths. Randall’s next court date was Feb. 3.
