Ricardo Williamson

Portrait of Ricardo Williamson

Ricardo Williamson loved to sing for his family. He enjoyed classics like Michael Jackson, The Temptations, and The O’Jays.

“You had to hear him,” his niece Nina Kemp told NJ.com. “He had a nice little soft voice. A real smooth dude.” 

Ricardo, who had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, was a “wonderful man,” his niece says. He spread joy, despite his health challenges; he suffered from at least three chronic medical conditions that required intensive medical treatment. 

 Ricardo passed away at the age of 62 on Sunday, May 10, at the Central Reception and Assignment Facility in Trenton, New Jersey. While the facility declined to confirm the cause of death, citing medical privacy rules, New Jersey’s prisons had the highest COVID-19 death rate in the nation in May. The state’s prison system has been heavily criticized for its response to the pandemic and it initially took weeks to provide masks and hand sanitizer to incarcerated individuals.

Because of Ricardo’s age and chronic illnesses, Passaic County public defender Judith Fallon says he “should have been the first person released” under an executive order signed by Governor Phil Murphy aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.

“I don’t know for sure that he died from COVID-19,” Fallon said. “But I do know for sure that he shouldn’t have died in prison.” 

Nina says corrections officials never informed her family about her uncle’s death. A reporter eventually told her of Ricardo’s passing.

“Dang, I can’t believe it," Nina reflected. "Uncle Ricky. I’m going to miss him.”

This memorial was written by MOL volunteer Ethan Ehrenhaft with information from reporting by Anthony W. Accurso from Prison Legal News and S.P. Sullivan from NJ.com.

Original artwork by MOL team member EJ Joyner.