Mamdani ‘Deeply Saddened’ by Death of Suspect Charged with Cold-Blooded Murder– www.breitbart.com

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of a Rikers Island inmate charged with murdering a shop owner with a meat cleaver in an unprovoked attack.

“I am deeply saddened by the death of a New Yorker in City custody at a jail on Rikers Island early this morning,” Mamdani said. “My thoughts are with his family and loved ones as they grieve this loss.”

Mamdani said officials have not yet determined what caused the inmate’s death.

“We do not yet know the cause of death, but we do know that too many New Yorkers have died on Rikers Island,” he said.

The Department of Correction and its oversight partners will investigate the circumstances surrounding the death, according to Mamdani. The mayor also renewed his administration’s commitment to improving conditions in the city’s jail system and closing Rikers Island “as quickly as possible.”

The inmate had been charged with killing a shop owner in an unprovoked meat-cleaver attack. Clarence Woodward, a 39-year-old homeless parolee, was arrested following the August 8, 2024, attack at the 303 Laundromat in the Bronx. He was charged with murder, manslaughter, and assault.