Rikers inmate choked to death by fellow inmate

Officials say an inmate in a mental health wing at Rikers Island has been choked to death by another inmate.

City Hall spokeswoman Natalie Grybauskas says the 35-year-old inmate died Monday afternoon after being attacked inside the Anna M. Kross Correctional Facility, where inmates are housed with mental disorders that are not serious.

Grybauskas said the victim was seated when the attacker ran up and placed him in a chokehold. Two correction officers intervened and separated the two, but the victim collapsed and died before medics arrived.

"This loss of life is a tragedy, and serious violence of this nature is incredibly troubling," Grybauskas told Fox 5 News in a statement.  "An investigation is underway and we will do everything we can to get to the boom of this heinous crime."

It wasn't clear what provoked the attack.

The last time an inmate was killed at Rikers Island was in 2012, when a guard fatally kicked an inmate in the head.  The last inmate-on-inmate homicide was in 2008.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.