Former New York City Department of Correction Captain Rebecca Hillman became a rare example of a jail supervisor criminally convicted for an on-duty death after a jury found her guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Ryan Wilson, a 29-year-old person in custody at the Manhattan Detention Complex, also known as “The Tombs.”
Wilson died on November 22, 2020, while locked in a cell at the Manhattan jail. According to prosecutors, Hillman was the captain assigned to the unit where Wilson was housed. After an argument involving another incarcerated person, Hillman planned to move Wilson to a different housing unit. Wilson then entered a visible crisis inside his locked cell, and a correction officer urgently tried to get Hillman to respond.
Instead of immediately treating the situation as a life-threatening emergency, prosecutors said Hillman went into a control room and continued paperwork. The officer outside Wilson’s cell tried to calm him and called for Hillman because immediate help was needed. When the situation escalated, that officer called for the cell to be opened so Wilson could be helped.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Hillman came to the cell after the crisis was already underway, but ordered the officer who was ready to intervene not to enter. Prosecutors said Hillman claimed Wilson was “playing around” and later said he was faking it because he was still breathing. She then ordered the cell door closed while Wilson remained alone inside.
About 15 minutes after Wilson was in visible danger, Hillman finally ordered the cell opened again and called for medical staff. Officers cut Wilson down, found a faint pulse, and began chest compressions. By the time medical personnel arrived, Wilson was dead.
Hillman was indicted in 2021 on charges of criminally negligent homicide and offering a false instrument for filing. Prosecutors alleged she also filed an official report falsely stating that Wilson had been helped “immediately” after the cell door was closed. She pleaded not guilty when the case began.
On March 14, 2023, a New York State Supreme Court jury convicted Hillman of one count of criminally negligent homicide. On April 28, 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced that Hillman had been sentenced to six months in jail. Bragg’s office said the case marked the first time a correction officer had been convicted of and sentenced for criminally negligent homicide.
“Rebecca Hillman’s negligence and shocking lack of regard for Ryan Wilson’s well-being led to his death,” Bragg said in the sentencing announcement. Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said Wilson “might still be alive” had Hillman taken the urgent action required of a Department of Correction captain responsible for the safety of people in custody.
Wilson’s death was more than a tragic jail incident. It was a failure by a ranking correction official to act when a person in custody was in obvious danger, followed by a criminal conviction that confirmed the difference between a difficult job and a deadly dereliction of duty.
Sources:
Manhattan District Attorney’s Office: D.A. Bragg Announces Jail Sentence of Corrections Captain for Negligent Homicide
ABC7 New York: Disturbing details revealed after Department of Correction captain charged
CBS News: NYC jail captain indicted after she allegedly ignored inmate who hanged himself in cell
