Family of Ray Digiacomo, of Lynbrook, files lawsuit alleging he died of drug overdose while in Nassau jail

The family of a Lynbrook man has filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against Nassau County, alleging their loved one died of a fentanyl overdose while he was an inmate at the jail.

Ray Digiacomo, 45, was found unresponsive in his cell on March 1, 2023, authorities had said. He was taken to Nassau University Medical Center, where he died, the suit states.

Digiacomo's family alleges that Nassau County, the Sheriff's Office, the jail and correction Officer Javel Welch were “careless, reckless, acted willfully, wantonly and grossly negligent in failing to protect [the inmate] in allowing the presence of contraband into the prison, including the drugs … Fentanyl, Fluorofentanyl, Codeine, Norfentanyl, Morphine, Heroin and 6-Monoacetylmorphine, to be smuggled into the correctional facility,” court papers show.

The family also contends that jail officials failed to properly investigate the correction officer and did not administer Naloxone, which reverses the effects of overdoses, or provide the proper medical aid to Digiacomo. They asked the court to award them $20 million for the loss of their loved one.

The sheriff’s department spokesman, Christopher Boyle, did not respond to several requests for comment. Welch's attorney declined to comment.

Digiacomo had been incarcerated since the fall of 2022 after police arrested him for violating an order of protection when he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s house, his mother, Barbara Goldstein, said.

Goldstein said her son had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction since high school.

The day of his death, around 7 a.m., Goldstein got a call from a Nassau County police detective telling her that Digiacomo had been found unconscious in his cell. A cigarette lighter and some burned aluminum were found in his cell, the mother said the detective told her. “The last time I spoke to my son, he said, ‘Mom, I love you. I’ll call you tomorrow,' ” the mother said.

The medical examiner’s office determined that he had died from “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fluoro fentanyl, heroin, fentanyl and codeine, the lawsuit states.

Digiacomo’s family lawyer, Joseph Dell, said it took jail officials more than one hour to take him to Nassau University Medical Center — which is next door — where he died.

Dell said that a marijuana cigarette found in his cell and rolled with the pages of a prison Bible tested positive for fentanyl.

Digiacomo was a kind, but troubled soul, his mother said. He had a few brushes with the law, she said, but at the root of it all, “he was a good kid. He had a heart of gold.”

The family said they were never told what happened to Digiacomo inside the jail, or why his case had been delayed for months. At the time he was arrested, he was living in a sober house in Hempstead, doing HVAC repair and going to prayer meetings to stay clean, his family said.

The lawsuit was filed in Nassau County Supreme Court on March 1, a year after Digiacomo's death. Welch was also named and accused of negligence for smuggling the drugs into the lockup. He was arrested March 31 after a drug-sniffing dog got a hit on his backpack and he was found with a Bible and an unauthorized cellphone in the lockup.

The Bible tested positive for illegal drugs, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at the time of his arrest.

Digiacomo’s death was the second due to an overdose in five months at the East Meadow facility. Nassau County jail has seen one jail death a year from 2020 to 2023, according to the state Board of Corrections. Suffolk lockup reported one inmate death in 2020. No other prisoners died behind bars in Suffolk County in the following years until March 7. Officials said they could not provide information on the causes of the other deaths.

The case highlights the struggle that the Nassau County jail, and just about every correctional center has keeping out drugs and other contraband. It can be even harder to prove.

Last week, a correction officer was acquitted of smuggling cigarettes into the jail. In January, a jail nurse was indicted on a charge of smuggling a weapon into the jail for her ex-boyfriend.

Pete Lilli , president of the Nassau County Correction Officers Benevolent Association, said drug and other contraband into jails and prisons is a nationwide problem.

"That being said, all uniformed staff deserve the right to due process, like anyone else, and the public should not rush to judgment, simply because allegations have been made," he said.

Goldstein said she’s angry that people who were supposed to ensure her son returned to court allowed him access to deadly drugs.

“I want them to give me justice for my son, dying like that. Someone put something in his hand that killed him,” she said. “I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to another parent. That’s what I want. I just want justice for my son.”