The family of an incarcerated individual at Fishkill Correctional Facility is searching for answers after he died while in state custody.

Efrain Rivera, 26, of Brooklyn, died Nov. 30, 2023 while serving 15 years to life for a murder in Brooklyn, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

His family says Rivera was struggling to manage his diabetes since his incarceration in 2019 and had a complication called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) while at the Fishkill prison.

They claim Rivera was in the infirmary for two days when he died after being released from a hospital the month before. The family believes he may not have received medical attention quickly enough during a final medical emergency.

“The way to treat DKA is to take them immediately to the hospital and they need to be given insulin drips around the clock to flush out the amount of glucose and acid in his body. They’re not equipped for that,” says Rivera’s cousin, Alyssa Rivera.

Rivera’s family say he was in the hospital with diabetic complications 15 times since his incarceration.

A representative for DOCCS says Rivera was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital in Newburgh and that his cause of death is under investigation.