What did Dennis Applewhite do? Charges explored as Rikers Island inmate stabs corrections officers 15 times

Dennis Applewhite, a Rikers Island inmate awaiting a murder trial, stabbed a correctional officer 15 times without any provocation, officials said in a statement.

On Monday, October 31, Dennis Applewhite, 29, accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, stabbed a 28-year-old officer multiple times in the back of the head inside the Anna M. Kross Center.

The officer, who sustained serious injuries during the unprovoked attack, was rushed to an area hospital, where he is in stable condition. The corrections officer was reportedly working in a protective custody unit when he was ambushed around 4:45 pm.

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Dennis Applewhite had a history of violence

Dennis Applewhite, an ex-parolee who also goes by the name Dennis Fredericks, has a criminal record that dates back to 2008. According to the Daily News, Applewhite was arrested on a firearms charge and was sentenced to serve three years in prison in 2014. Applewhite was released on parole in 2017.

On November 11, 2021, Dennis Applewhite, a Bronx resident and a member of the Air it Out gang, fatally shot his 27-year-old pregnant girlfriend Brittani Duffy in the neck in her Lower East Side apartment in New York.

Following the incident, Applewhite fled the scene and was caught during a chase where he carjacked an elderly motorist and crashed the stolen car before he was arrested by law enforcement in New Jersey.

Applewhite was held without bail on Rikers Island, where he was awaiting trial on a murder charge when he attacked the corrections officer.

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Dennis Applewhite will be charged for the attack on the officer

In a statement, Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina said Applewhite would be rearrested and charged for attacking the corrections officer. The statement read:

“This was an unprovoked heinous and callous attack on one of our dedicated officers, who was simply doing their job. We will not tolerate any assaults on our members of service who show up to work each day to keep our jails safe.”

Officers working in the protective custody unit are said to house detainees in solitary confinement as they pose a risk to other inmates. Corrections Officers’ Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio said that the attack is indicative of the need for solitary confinement, which is currently a subject for debate. The statement read:

“This heinous attack demonstrates exactly why the Public Advocate and City Council must immediately pull the Bill to end punitive segregation before one of us gets killed.”

Solitary confinement is perceived as an inhumane practice that leads to the gratuitous deaths of inmates who have been isolated from people for long periods.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York proposed a ban on solitary confinement towards the end of his administration. However, Mayor Eric Adams reversed the proposition when he was sworn into office on January 1, 2022.