A Cuban migrant held in solitary confinement at an immigration detention facility in Texas died after guards held him down and he stopped breathing, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday that ruled the death a homicide.
Geraldo Lunas Campos died Jan. 3 following an altercation with guards. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) originally said the 55-year-old father of four was attempting suicide and the staff tried to save him.
But 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.
At least 30 people died in ICE custody last year, the highest level in two decades, agency figures show. In the first 10 days of 2026, four immigrants, including Lunas Campos, died while in federal immigration custody.
I was about to comment that “died from homicide” sounds like a very roundabout way of saying “was murdered”. I realise that “was killed” would be more appropriate, and I’m still wondering why they wouldn’t just write that.
There are a number of reasons why someone can die from homicide in the medical sense, but not the legal sense. For instance, self-defense.
Most places have some variation on these types of homicide:
There’s also situations where it isn’t a crime at all, but would still be medically homicide. I mentioned self-defense, but someone could get shot by a hunter because they were in the woods without an orange vest. There’s also certain cases where it’s legal for police to shoot someone, due to an active threat.
All of these would be medically homicide, but only some would be called murder.
I absolutely get those points, but would argue that “was killed” covers all of them. I just think “died from homicide” sounds so strange, since “homicide” literally means “killed by someone else”, so it reads like “died from being killed” just in a slightly more roundabout way.