River Jones, a Bronx man convicted in the 2022 killing of Los Angeles rapper Avanti Frowner, is suing New York City for $1 million over a shower fall at Rikers Island.
Jones, now in his early 20s, filed the petition in Bronx Supreme Court claiming serious injuries from the December 2025 incident at the George R. Vierno Detention Center. Court papers show he alleges the facility failed to place mats on the shower floor, leading to his slip.
Medical records filed alongside the petition tell a narrower story. The physician who examined Jones wrote that he was “[presenting with left elbow pain after he slipped and fell in the shower.” The same note continues: “Denies head trauma or loss of consciousness. Denies other injuries.”
Jones underwent surgery for the broken elbow and was discharged without complications, according to those records. His lawsuit, however, claims injuries to his entire body, including his head, neck and face.
The petition arrives as Jones serves his sentence at Gouverneur Correctional Facility in upstate New York, where he has been held since June 25. Online records indicate he is eligible for parole in 2029.
Jones was one of four men indicted in the brazen daytime shooting that claimed Frowner’s life. The 27-year-old rapper, known professionally as Money Gang Vontae, was inside a Bronx pharmacy when the attack unfolded. Police said Jones and two others beat and robbed Frowner before Isaiah Garrett, now 28, fired the fatal shots.
Though initially charged with second-degree murder, Jones was convicted of first-degree gang assault. At the time of the 2022 killing, he was an 18-year-old student at Monroe College.
The city Correction Department did not respond to messages seeking comment. Attorneys for both Jones and the city declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The $1 million demand adds a legal wrinkle to a case that already drew attention for its brutality and its intersection of coasts — a California artist slain in a New York pharmacy by a group that included a local college student. Frowner’s death at 27 cut short a career that had drawn followers under his Money Gang Vontae moniker.
Jones is not the first Rikers detainee to pursue damages over facility conditions, though the gap between his claimed injuries and documented treatment may complicate his argument. The lawsuit names both the prison and the city as responsible parties.
Jones remains in custody at Gouverneur Correctional Facility with parole eligibility set for 2029.