A concerned mother is asking why her son hasn’t been released from the Rockland County Jail due to his level of risk if he contracts COVID-19 behind bars.

Jayquan Boone has been in jail since allegedly violating parole last year. Diana Newsome, his mother, fears he won’t come out alive. She says he has a heart murmur and developed bronchial asthma in the last few years.

“I just wanna know that he’s safe,” says Diana Newsome, of Stony Point. “He’s made mistakes but I don’t think he should have to pay with his life for something like this.”

Newsome wants to know why her son hasn’t been released like other at-risk inmates in New York state. Experts have noted that people with respiratory conditions are especially at risk if they contract coronavirus.

There are currently no inmates with the virus at the Rockland County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office also says Boone has outstanding charges on top of his parole violation and that Boone is receiving medical attention for his conditions. A Department of Corrections spokesman says Boone is being held on new criminal charges so he is not eligible for a COVID-19 release.

But Newsome fears what will happen if he remains jailed during the pandemic.

“I don’t want a get a phone call that … he tested positive and he passed away,” she says.