{"id":11750,"date":"2021-10-18T22:52:45","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T17:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=11750"},"modified":"2021-10-18T22:52:52","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T17:22:52","slug":"victor-mercado-bronx-prisoner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=11750","title":{"rendered":"Victor Mercado, Bronx Prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Bronx man who was being held at the Rikers Island jail complex passed away on Friday following, his lawyer said, he contracted the coronavirus \u2014 the 13th death in custody during an especially deadly year in New York City\u2019s jails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man, Victor Mercado had been held on weapons charges since July after not being able to pay the $100,000 bail a Bronx judge set in his case when he fell ill last week, his lawyer, James A. Kilduff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Kilduff said he had asked the judge to lower the bail last month, arguing that his client\u2019s poor health \u2014 Mr. Mercado used a wheelchair and was overweight \u2014 made him especially susceptible to the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI explained the family had limited resources, and they left the bail conditions as it was,\u201d Mr. Kilduff said on Friday after learning of Mr. Mercado\u2019s death. \u201cIt could have been avoided. This is a tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 64-year-old was known in the Mott Haven neighborhood for helping building superintendents and bodega owners, and was arrested over the summer after the police had found a handgun that they said belonged to him in a car. Although, he denied the claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Mercado had entered the Correction Department\u2019s custody as the city\u2019s jail system was going out of control, weakened by\u00a0decades of neglect\u00a0and unable to function as the pandemic swept over the ranks of those being held and jail officers called in sick or otherwise did not come to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After being held in a jail infirmary because of his health problems, Mr. Mercado was transferred to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens on Thursday when his condition worsened because of Covid-19 complications, Mr. Kilduff said. He also included that he had talked to Mr. Mercado by phone that day, that his voice had been hoarse and he sounded nervous as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At around noon on Friday, the judge in his case granted Mr. Mercado conditional release. An hour later, he died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deceased person’s brother, Ray Rivera, 65, said that his family could not raise enough money for his bail and was shocked from their loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Bronx man who was being held at the Rikers Island jail complex passed away on Friday following, his lawyer said, he contracted the coronavirus \u2014 the 13th death in custody during an especially deadly year in New York City\u2019s jails.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":11754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6698,9,15],"tags":[8680],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Victor-Mercado.jpg?fit=600%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7115,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=7115","url_meta":{"origin":11750,"position":0},"title":"Reza Chowdhury, Internist","date":"April 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Reza Chowdhury \u2013 an Internist and Infectious Diseases Physician at Westchester Medical Healthcare, Bronx, New York \u2013 passed away on 8 April 2020 after suffering from COVID-19. 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