The body of a migrant who died at an El Paso immigration detention center was sent to a military hospital rather than the county medical examiner who investigated two previous deaths at the facility — and concluded that one of them was a homicide rather than a suicide.
Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan, died Jan. 14 at Camp East Montana, a massive tent facility the federal government built on the Fort Bliss Army base. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Diaz was found unconscious and unresponsive in his room and died of “a presumed suicide.”
Diaz’s autopsy is being performed at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in Fort Bliss, which doesn’t release autopsy reports to the public — only to family members and investigators, according to Jessia Rovero, a public affairs officer at Fort Bliss.
This comes after the El Paso Medical Examiner recently ruled a previous detainee’s death a homicide, contradicting ICE’s contention that he died by suicide.
Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban, died at Camp East Montana on Jan. 3, just 11 days before Diaz’s death. Initially, an ICE press release said Lunas Campos died after “experiencing medical distress.” About a week later, ICE told the Associated Press that he died during a suicide attempt after staff attempted to save him.
The El Paso Medical Examiner’s autopsy report, released on Jan. 21, says Lunas Campos died from “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression,” meaning that he couldn’t breathe because of pressure on his neck and chest. It’s unclear whether the medical examiner’s finding will lead to criminal charges or prosecution.
Randall Kallinen, Diaz’s family’s attorney, said the public outcry over that homicide ruling may explain why ICE turned to a military hospital to do the next autopsy of a migrant who died in their custody.
“Why did they go against their previous practice?” Kallinen said.
ICE did not respond to questions about Diaz’s autopsy.
Angélica César, a fellow at Human Rights Watch, said the concern isn’t just about where Diaz’s autopsy is being done, “but really who controls the process and whether it’s independent from (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s) custodial authority.”
“The more credible approach here would have been for local, independent authorities with no institutional ties to DHS to conduct the autopsy and the investigation,” César said. “And this would ultimately protect both the families and the integrity of the investigative process itself.”
Kallinen said Diaz’s family is not convinced he took his own life. He said they spoke to Diaz, who lived alone in the U.S., by phone from Nicaragua and he didn’t sound depressed. If he had been deported back to Nicaragua, his entire family was there to receive him.
“He was not a criminal; he was looking for a better life and he wanted to help our mother,” Diaz’s brother, Yorlan Diaz, told ABC News.
