Medical examiner rules Texas ICE detainee death a homicide

A county medical examiner ruled the death of a Cuban immigrant in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody a homicide on Jan. 22, after the man attempted suicide and was restrained by guards at a detention center in El Paso, Texas. Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died Jan. 3 at Camp East Montana, a detention facility built on an Army base to house thousands of immigrants. The examiner determined he died from asphyxia caused by compression to his neck and torso.

The homicide ruling came after a 911 call obtained by The Associated Press revealed that a private security contractor at the facility called for emergency help during the struggle. A witness who observed the incident described at least five guards holding Campos down, with one applying pressure around his neck until he lost consciousness.

The death marks the latest fatality in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and raises questions about detention center restraint practices and the level of external oversight.

The Incident

In a recording of the 911 call obtained through a Texas public information request, a man identifying himself as Lt. Paul Walden, a detention officer with the contractor Akima Global Services, told the dispatcher: “He tried to hang himself, and then we put him in cuffs, and he kept going.”

Walden said Campos had vomited and urinated on himself and that staff members were using a portable defibrillator to try to restore his heartbeat. He did not elaborate on the circumstances of Campos’ suicide attempt or what occurred during the subsequent struggle.

El Paso Fire Department paramedics found Campos “pulseless and apneic on the floor of his cell” as staff members performed CPR, according to an incident report obtained by the Associated Press. He was pronounced dead after paramedics provided advanced life support.

The El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Campos died from asphyxia caused by compression to his neck and torso. The autopsy report said witnesses observed Campos become unresponsive while being restrained by guards and found injuries consistent with guards holding him down and applying pressure to his neck and back.

A witness who spoke to the Associated Press described a more detailed restraint. The witness said at least five guards held Campos down while he was handcuffed, and one guard placed an arm around Campos’ neck and squeezed until he was unconscious.

ICE’s Response

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not mention in its initial statement on the death that Campos had attempted suicide or been physically restrained. The agency said only that Campos became disruptive while in line for medication, refused to return to his dorm, and was placed in solitary confinement. Staff then “observed him in distress” and contacted medical personnel, according to ICE’s statement.

Days later, an ICE spokesperson offered an amended account, stating that guards intervened to help when Campos tried to kill himself. The statement said Campos “violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life,” and stopped breathing during the struggle.

The Investigation

The homicide determination raises questions about whether any law enforcement agency outside of ICE is investigating the death. A Camp East Montana official, Daniel Rios, the deputy director, called the county sheriff’s office an hour after Walden’s 911 call to request a death investigation. Rios said he was driving to the facility and did not witness the death. “I believe he just hung himself,” Rios said, but he added that he did not have details and “I don’t want to lie to you.”

When Rios called back an hour later, records show the El Paso Police Department did not get involved in the investigation.

Background and Context

Campos had lived in the United States since 1996. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody last July following an operation in Rochester, New York. An immigration judge had ordered his removal in 2005 after he was convicted of sexual contact with a minor, though his deportation never occurred. He later served prison time on a drug charge and was released from state supervision in New York in 2017.

According to the 911 call, Campos had a history of bipolar disorder and anxiety.

Walden, 25, has worked as a detention officer with Akima Global Services since Sept. 1, according to his Texas private security guard license. That date was within days of Camp East Montana’s opening. Walden did not respond to messages left at phone and email addresses associated with him. Akima, which also did not return messages seeking comment, provides detention and security services for ICE.

Camp East Montana was built last year to house thousands of immigrants in the desert at Fort Bliss, a massive Army base a few miles from the U.S. border with Mexico.