A 54-year-old woman serving a year on Rikers Island for misdemeanor assault died early Thursday, according to correction officials and sources.
The death, an apparent suicide according to sources, took place in West Facility and is the fourth fatality connected to New York City jails since Feb. 19. It comes amid growing concern as t he city’s jail population has crested over 7,000.
Sarena Townsend, a lawyer and former deputy commissioner for trials and investigations, called the spate of deaths “startling.”…