Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Friday, May 12, that four current and six former detainees of Rikers Island jail have been charged with violent attacks that occurred inside the jail. She said three men were brutally beaten during a “war” between alleged Bloods and Crips gang members, and one man was left with deep wounds after what was described by the District Attorney’s office as a “petty dispute.”

 

In the context of the announcement, Clark said, “We continue to prosecute violence in our jails, even when the victims do not cooperate with the investigation out of fear, because we must send the message that no one should be subjected to wanton brutality.” She added, “Along with our Rikers Island Prosecution Bureau, I started the Rikers Island Violence Reduction Initiative to target crime drivers who have committed multiple or extreme acts of violence to other inmates.”

 

Clark said the 10 defendants were charged in three separate indictments with attempted gang assault in the first-degree, second-degree assault, and nine defendants were also charged with third-degree assault. She said the alleged Bloods gang members are Marlon Willocks, 28, Joshua Straud, 26, Akieme Nesbitt, 43, Javon Morris, 26, Donnell Hickman, 23, Kali Brown, 23, Jacquin Gordon, 27, Durail Miles, 31, and Andy Punnette, 37. David Gonsalves, 33, is the 10th defendant.

 

According to the DA’s office, Nesbitt, Gonsalves and Miles were arraigned this week in Bronx Supreme Court and bail was set at $200,000 cash/$200,000 bond each for Nesbitt and Gonsalves, and at $100,000 cash/$100,000 bond for Miles. Representatives from the DA’s office said the other defendants are awaiting arraignment.

 

According to the investigation, on October 8, 2022, in the George R. Vierno Center, Willocks, Straud, Nesbitt, Morris, Hickman and Brown allegedly beat an alleged Crip gang member they believed had attacked a Blood gang member on the street. Officials said that when another inmate stepped in to help his fellow Crip gang member, he was also assaulted. They said both victims were punched and slashed and one was beaten with a cane.

 

According to a separate investigation, on October 13, 2022, also in the George R. Vierno Center, Gordon, Miles and Punnette allegedly attacked a rival Crip gang member from behind while the victim was using a jail telephone. Officials said the defendants slashed the victim and then punched and stomped on him.

 

According to a third investigation, on March 10, this year, in the Eric M. Taylor Center, Gonsalves approached a new Rikers Island detainee who was moving his bedding near Gonsalves and his crew. Officials said the defendant and his cohorts allegedly trapped the victim in a corner and beat him. They said Gonsalves then allegedly slashed the victim in the back twice causing deep wounds.

 

The cases are being prosecuted by Jonathan Abramovitz, director of Rikers Island Violence Reduction Initiative, and Senior Investigative Assistant District Attorney Miriam Bell-Blair of the Rikers Island Prosecution Bureau, under the supervision of Jose Arocho, deputy chief of the Rikers Island Prosecution Bureau, Francis Alberts, chief of the Rikers Island Prosecution Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the Investigations Division, and Wanda Perez-Moldonado, chief of the Investigations Division.

 

Clark thanked Trial Preparation Assistant Roderick Kelly for his assistance in the case, as well as NYC Department of Correction (DOC) Investigators Korab Hasangjekaj, Walter Holmes, Jeffrey Rios and Cecil Phillips of the NYC Department of Correction Intelligence Bureau for their work in the investigations.

 

On Friday, May 12, The New York Daily News reported that a 12-year-old boy was arrested allegedly for the murder on Staten Island of a Bloods gang member aged 36.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.