Jeffrey Epstein's last cellmate has died with COVID-19.
Efrain Reyes, 51, who shared a cell with Epstein only to be transferred a day before the multimillionaire alleged sex trafficker hanged himself, was found dead in bed on Nov. 27 at his mother’s Bronx apartment, the NYPD confirmed to the New York Daily News.
The official cause of Reyes death had not been announced. He was released from custody in April after testing positive for COVID, per the Daily News on Monday.
Reyes and Epstein were cellmates in August 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. Reyes was transferred to the Queens Detention Facility on Aug. 9, 2019, according to his family and Bureau of Prisons records.
Epstein was found hanging in his cell the next day. It was ruled a suicide.
Reyes, who pleaded guilty to a narcotics conspiracy involving crack and heroin at Bronx housing projects, cooperated with FBI agents investigating Epstein's death.
"They were asking how Epstein was when he was in the cell, if he seemed suicidal," said Angelique Lopez, Reyes' niece. "They were asking if he had any indication that he would do that. My uncle cooperated."
Lopez said her uncle was mild-mannered and had a bad leg – reasons Epstein was put in the same cell.
"My uncle kept to himself. He was laid back," Lopez said. "(Epstein) liked to read a lot and he kept to himself. He wasn't a problem starter or too loud. My uncle said he was a good cellmate."
Lopez said Reyes described how Epstein was caught in the middle between inmates and correctional officers.
"They knew how much money he had," Lopez said. "They said let's push him around and extort him for money. They thought they could get his money.
"[Staff] were treating him like crap. They were making him sleep on the floor. They wouldn't let him sleep on a cot."
Lopez said her uncle suffered many health problems, including diabetes and heart trouble.
Reyes, nicknamed "Stone," caught COVID-19 at the Queens private jail. The Daily News previously reported the jail was overrun with coronavirus early in the pandemic.
"I can't say COVID didn't play a part [in his death]," Lopez said. "He came back coughing more than normal. His lungs weren’t the same."
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