Authorities investigating death of Nassau County jail inmate
Nassau County Correctional Facility on Friday, March 11, 2016 in East Meadow. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Authorities are investigating the death of a Nassau County jail inmate in custody, state and local law enforcement officials said Monday.
The 28-year-old man’s death on Friday marked the third jail custody death in Nassau in 2018, according to state Commission of Correction spokeswoman Janine Kava.
Nassau police spokesman Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun on Monday identified the deceased as Kevin J. Rollins. LeBrun said homicide detectives are probing the nature of Rollins’ death, and are awaiting toxicology reports and further information from the Medical Examiner’s office.
Authorities found Rollins in cardiac arrest in his jail cell Thursday and took him to Nassau University Medical Center, where he died the next day, the police spokesman said.
The West Babylon man pleaded guilty in June 2016 in Nassau County Court to heroin-related charges and was remanded to a drug treatment program at the jail, according to court records.
On Dec. 19, Rollins appeared in a Suffolk court and pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while impaired by drugs, records also show.
Rollins’ attorney, Matt Tuohy, on Monday described the man as a good-natured person from a close-knit family who had worked as an electrician but struggled with a drug addiction that landed him in jail.
Tuohy said Rollins’ parents haven’t gotten their son’s autopsy results yet, but have a lot of unanswered questions.
“He was doing well . . . He seemed in good health. He seemed like a guy who was totally off drugs,” the Huntington lawyer said.
The Commission of Correction also will do an investigation into Rollins’ death, as is the case with all jail custody fatalities.
Before Rollins’ death, a 57-year-old inmate died in Nassau custody in September, and a 54-year-old male inmate died while in custody in August, according to authorities.
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