Advocates rallied in Manhattan on Tuesday to protest the 12 people who have died in custody at Rikers Island this year.

The rally was held ahead of Tuesday's Board of Correction meeting.

"This is more than just a booking and case number," said Chaplain Dr. Victoria A. Phillips, the cofounder of Jails Action Coalition. "These are real heart beats."

Of those 12, three occurred in the last 2 1/2 weeks, including Jimmy Avila, from the Claremont section of the Bronx, Carlos Cruz, of Staten Island, and Ardit Billa, from East New York in Brooklyn.

"At this point, it's a critical mass and we need someone to hear us," said Conrad Blackburn, a criminal defense attorney and policy council for the Bronx Defenders.

The people rallying claimed the conditions at Rikers Island are to blame, which Phillips says includes records of people with "no access to medical care. We're talking about countless people who did not have access to attorneys, who we now know are sometimes isolated for days, weeks."

Many also blamed the culture of Rikers.

"The people who are staffing these facilities - not every single one - are apathetic at best, and cruel at worst," said Natalie Fiorenzo, a senior corrections specialist for New York County Defender Services.

Following the rally, everybody went inside the building so that as many of them as possible could testify to the New York City Board of Correction about the conditions.

"Sometimes I think that hope lacks action," said Phillips. "I believe in taking action, and I believe in strategy."

While this was not the first time many advocates had made their case, they hoped this strategy would be the one to finally break through.

"I'm really not relying on DOC to start caring, but I'm relying on oversight bodies, politicians, lawmakers, those are the people that we really, really need to reach," said Fiorenzo.

News 12 reached out to the Department of Correction, which said it had nothing to add besides its original statements sent out after each death, where it expressed sympathy and said the incidents would be investigated.