An inmate who jumped into the East River from a New York City jail barge has died, the city Department of Correction announced Wednesday.

Gregory Acevedo, 48, was pronounced dead at about 11 p.m. Tuesday, 11 hours after he climbed a fence at the Vernon C. Bain Center and jumped into the water, officials said.

�Mr. Acevedo�s tragic passing is an immense loss,� Correction Commissioner Louis A. Molina said in a statement. �We are conducting a preliminary investigation of this incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones at this difficult time.�

Acevedo had been in custody on a robbery charge since Feb. 27. Police officers pulled him from the water after his jump Tuesday and took to a hospital, where efforts to revive him failed. He was the 15th person to die this year who was a New York City jail inmate or who had just been released.

�Once again, their system failed,� Acevedo�s attorney, Warren Silverman, told the New York Post. �I mean, he shouldn�t have been able to get to any position where he could have harmed himself, and clearly they dropped the ball, as usual.�

The New York state attorney general�s office and the city Department of Investigation conduct separate investigations into the death. The city medical examiner�s office will determine the cause.

The Vernon C. Bain Center is a a 625-foot (190-meter) barge that opened as a jail in 1992. It is docked in the East River off the Bronx.

(AP)