Photos and text by Stacie Joy
Updated 2/19: The Daily News has a follow-up on Travis' death here.
In a follow-up email with Stacie Joy, his sister Chloe said that she is particularly upset that the police told media outlets how much Travis shoplifted to the penny but couldn't tell the hospital how long he was unconscious following the arrest. "That was just intolerable," she said.
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A familiar face in Tompkins Square Park, Travis "Grim" Durkin, died this past week while in the custody of the 6th Precinct in a hospice setting at Weill Cornell hospital. He was 47.
Travis' family doesn't have a lot of answers and is left with questions after being notified that he was found unconscious in his cell after an arrest for shoplifting on Jan. 18. There was speculation that he suffered a cardiac event and was placed in a medically induced coma.
After weeks of deteriorating condition, he was transferred to hospice care, and his life-saving support was removed. He died a few days later, on Feb. 9.
An autopsy is pending, as is a local memorial event. The family plans on Saturday, March 4, at 2 p.m., in Tompkins Square Park. Travis especially loved the New York hardcore scene, concerts in the park and dancing, so it's a fitting spot to pay respects.
"Being a good friend was important to Travis, as well as capturing the imagination of the person he was engaging in conversation with," his sister Chloe told me. "He liked to entertain people and cheer them up. And he wanted to be loved."
He is survived by his father and stepmother, Michael Durkin and Judy Durkin, two sisters, Chloe and Erin Durkin, and his daughter Rhiannon Jamison. His mother died giving birth to him.