RIKERS ISLAND INMATE SENTENCED TO 8 YEARS IN PRISON FOR
CHOKEHOLD ATTACK THAT LED TO DEATH OF FELLOW INMATE
Defendant Pleaded Guilty to Strangulation
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Rikers Island inmate has been sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree Strangulation in the 2018 death of a fellow inmate.
District Attorney Clark said, “In an unprovoked attack in front of several people, the defendant approached the 35-year-old victim and put him in a chokehold, triggering a fatal asthma attack. This was a senseless death. We must continue to do all we can to make our jails safe for anyone who must be there.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Artemio Rosa, 28, an inmate at Rikers Island, was sentenced to eight years in prison by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Hornstein. Rosa pleaded guilty to first-degree Strangulation on July 24, 2019.
According to the investigation, on July 9, 2018 in the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island, the defendant approached fellow inmate Casey Holloway and put him in a chokehold for approximately 30 seconds. This caused Holloway to have an asthma attack, and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene shortly afterwards.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Karl Miller of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Russell of the Rikers Island Prosecution Bureau, under the supervision of Christine Scaccia, Chief of the Homicide Bureau, and the overall supervision of James Brennan, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division, and Theresa Gottlieb, Chief of the Trial division.
District Attorney Clark thanked the New York City Department of Correction and the New York Police Department for their assistance in the investigation.
Follow Us