By NAN Contributor
News Americas, VICTORVILLE, CA, Thurs. Mar. 30, 2017: A 32-year-old Nicaraguan national has become the fifth immigrant detainee to die in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this year.
Osmar Epifanio Gonzalez-Gadba, passed away early Tuesday morning at Victor Valley Global Medical Center in Victorville, six days after he attempted to commit suicide.
Gonzalez-Gadba was found him hanging in his cell by personnel making the rounds at the privately run Adelanto Detention Facility in California on March 22nd. He was transferred to the Victor Valley Global Medical Center after medical staff at Adelanto called 911 and began efforts to resuscitate him.
Gonzalez-Gadba was placed on life support at the hospital’s intensive care unit but despite round-the-clock care, he never regained consciousness.
The preliminary cause of death according to ICE is heart failure caused by the cerebral edema which resulted from asphyxiation.
ICE, in a statement, said it has advised Nicaraguan consular representatives of Gonzalez-Gadba’s death and is trying locate his next of kin, but so far no family members have been identified.
Gonzalez-Gadba had been in ICE custody since Dec. 29, 2016, following his arrest by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Otay Mesa. At the time of his death, ICE was seeking to obtain a travel document from the Nicaraguan government to facilitate his removal.
Department of Homeland Security databases indicate Gonzalez-Gadba had been previously removed to Nicaragua in April 2016.
