Private guard called 911 in ICE detainee homicide, saying man ‘kept going’ after suicide attempt

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Cuban immigrant at a Texas detention center tried to hang himself, was restrained by guards in handcuffs, and stopped breathing during a subsequent struggle, according to a 911 call from a private security contractor.

A caller identifying himself as Lt. Paul Walden called for emergency help as medical staff tried to revive Geraldo Lunas Campos on Jan. 3 at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas. A county medical examiner ruled earlier this week that the death was a homicide.

“He tried to hang himself, and then we put him in cuffs, and he kept going,” Walden said, according to a recording of the call The Associated Press obtained through a Texas public information request. He did not elaborate on how Lunas Campos tried to hang himself or what happened afterward. The City of El Paso redacted parts of the call to protect medical information.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees Camp East Montana, did not mention in its initial statement on the death that Lunas Campos had attempted suicide or been physically restrained. It did not immediately respond to questions Friday about the 911 call.

The 911 call lends some support to an amended description of the incident an agency spokesperson offered days later that guards intervened to help when Lunas Campos tried to kill himself. Lunas Campos “violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life,” and stopped breathing during the struggle, the spokesperson said.

A witness told The Associated Press last week that Lunas Campos was handcuffed as at least five guards held him down and one put an arm around his neck and squeezed until he was unconscious.

The El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of Lunas Campos, 55, a homicide caused by asphyxia due to compression to his neck and torso. Unlike many homicides, it is unclear whether any law enforcement agency outside of ICE is investigating the death.

The autopsy report said witnesses saw Lunas Campos become unresponsive while being restrained by guards. It found injuries consistent with guards holding him down and putting pressure on his neck and back until his body did not have enough oxygen to survive.

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

The 911 caller, Walden, has been a detention officer with federal contractor Akima Global Services since Sept. 1, which was within days of the camp’s opening, according to his Texas private security guard license. Walden, 25, didn’t respond to messages left at a phone number and email address associated with him. Akima, which also did not return messages seeking comment, provides detention and security services for ICE.

A second Camp East Montana official called police asking for an investigation of the death shortly after Lunas Campos was declared dead, but was rebuffed, according to records and phone calls released Friday. That man said he did not witness the death but had been told it was a suicide.

ICE’s initial statement on the death said Lunas Campos became disruptive while in line for medication, refused to return to his dorm and was placed in solitary confinement. The statement said staff then “observed him in distress” and contacted medical staff to treat him.

ICE took custody of Lunas Campos, who had lived in the U.S. since 1996, last July after an operation in Rochester, New York. An immigration judge had ordered his removal in 2005 after he’d been convicted of sexual contact with a minor, but his deportation never happened. He later served prison time on a drug charge, and he had been released from state supervision in New York in 2017.

Walden told the dispatcher that Lunas Campos, who had a history of bipolar disorder and anxiety, had vomited and urinated on himself. He said Camp East Montana staffers were using a portable defibrillator to try to restore his heartbeat.

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

An hour after Walden’s call, a man identifying himself as Camp East Montana deputy director Daniel Rios called the county sheriff’s office to request a death investigation. The county transferred the call to the city. Rios said he was driving to the camp and did not witness the death.

“I believe he just hung himself,” Rios said. But he added that he didn’t have details and, “I don’t want to lie to you.”

Rios called back an hour later after no one responded, asking when detectives would arrive. Records show the El Paso Police Department did not get involved.

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Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.