The strangest thing about a blind, unsteady Rikers Island inmate’s death after falling down some stairs during a visit to the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building is just how little the family of the dead man, 51-year-old Apolinar C. Solis, has been able to learn about it. The cause of death is still under investigation, the New York Times reports. “It is still unclear where in the courthouse Mr. Solis fell, if he was being escorted individually or with a group of other inmates, and if he got to his hearing.” Solis, arrested last month on drug possession charges, had been in Rikers for a month, and his family is worried he wasn’t treated with enough care. In a place where brawls over grilled-cheese sandwiches can last an hour, that’s an understandable concern.
