Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco was a 27-year-old Afro-Latina transgender woman who died at Rikers Island, New York City's main jail complex, on June 7, 2019, in solitary confinement after staff failed to provide her with medical care that could have saved her life for 47 minutes following an epileptic seizure.
[6] A video of the incident revealed that multiple staff members knocked on Polanco's cell door and that she was unresponsive.
[8] Polanco was part of New York City's ballroom scene as a member of the House of Xtravaganza and was a friend of Pose (2018) star Indya Moore.
[6] On May 14, Polanco was sentenced to 20 days in solitary confinement for a physical altercation with another individual in custody at the Transgender Housing Unit dormitory.
On May 15, she exhibited intense feelings of psychological distress, including suicidal ideation, hallucinations, and panic attacks.
The department's tour commander wrote that a psychiatrist could not authorize solitary confinement for Polanco because of her seizure disorder.
Although officers knew of her epilepsy and Polanco had already suffered multiple seizures at the facility, she was ultimately "cleared" for solitary confinement,[6] where she spent 17 hours a day in a cell.
By leaving her locked in a cell, unmonitored, the jail created the risk of Layleen's suffering a fatal seizure.
This was a thought-out decision to put a person in a situation where the risks of injury and death were obvious and known.The seizure was Polanco's third while in custody.
[9] In response, the New York City Anti-Violence Project organized a rally for Polanco on June 10, in which 600 people attended, including Janet Mock and Indya Moore.