Violence is surging at the city’s juvenile detention center in the Bronx now that more underaged accused killers are being held there because of a new state law.
There were 257 youth-on-youth attacks at Horizon Juvenile Center in Mott Haven during the fiscal year ending June 30 — nearly double the 135 incidents during the same period in fiscal 2021, according to city Administration for Children’s Services data.
Attacks on staff by inmates rose 17% during the same period, from 128 to 150.
Under the Raise the Age law approved by Albany lawmakers, the city by late 2019 transitioned 16- and 17-year-olds in custody out of Rikers Island and other city lockups to Horizon. Another ACS-managed site, Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn, then joined Horizon by accepting in 16- and 17-year-olds.
Last fiscal year, 132 of the 1,197 youths who spent time at either or both Horizon and Crossroads faced murder or attempted murder charges, according to ACS. That’s up from 92 in fiscal 2021, when 909 went through both detention centers, and 86 in fiscal 2019, when 1,563 were housed.
Accused killers and notorious teens who’ve recently spent time at both facilities include Zyairr Davis and Camrin Williams.
Davis was sentenced to 18 months of juvenile detention after copping a plea for his role as a 13-year-old in a botched mugging that led to the 2019 stabbing death of Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors.
Williams was accused of accidentally shooting an NYPD officer during a scuffle in the Bronx earlier this year. The 17-year-old gangbanger, who goes by the stage name C-Blu, had the gun and assault charges against him dropped without explanation in May, but was busted by cops again in September for carrying a loaded fireman.
Horizon and Crossroads can hold up to 106 detainees each, and Crossroads oversees all girls in the system.
Unlike Rikers Island and other adult jails, teens at both detention centers live in cushier dormitory-like settings — not in cells behind bars. During the day, their rooms aren’t locked, and they attend school and participate in other programs.
In fiscal 2019, while still under Department of Correction control, Horizon reported 244 youth-on-youth attacks and just 56 staff attacks.
Steve J. Martin, a court-appointed federal monitor overseeing troubled Rikers Island who also has some oversight of Horizon, noted the juvenile facility is plagued with violence — and suggested in an October report that staffers often don’t intervene because they fear for their lives.
ACS staffers were “hesitant to intervene physically, even when it is objectively necessary” and “explained their hesitance as primarily being driven by fear for their own safety and sometimes by a lack of trust or confidence in their staff partner,” Martin wrote.
ACS agreed to give the monitor some control of Horizon.
Violent attacks at Crossroads surged across the board from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2020, but there’s been a steady decline ever since despite a rise in detainee population. During the fiscal year ending June 30, there were 210 youth-on-youth assaults and 144 attacks on staff.
Camrin Williams, aka rapper C-Blu, was accused of shooting at an NYPD officer earlier this year.
ACS spokeswoman Marisa Kaufman said “the safety and security of youth and staff at Horizon Juvenile Center remains a top priority.”
“Much progress has been made since entering into the voluntary agreement with the [Rikers] monitors, and we are committed to moving this progress forward, including by hiring and retaining highly-trained and committed staff, adding educational and career programming, reducing the length of stay for youth in detention and enhancing safety features at the facility,” said Kaufman.
