Tag Archive for 'immigrant'

Autopsy: Immigrant’s death in jail was suicide

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H-L Justice Team
on October 5, 2008
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By Valarie Honeycutt Spears and Steve Lannen
vhoneycutt@herald-leader.com

The final autopsy report released Friday on an immigrant who died in August at the Franklin County Regional Jail while she was waiting to be deported confirms the preliminary finding that she hung herself.

Ana Romero

Ana Romero

But Franklin County Coroner Will Harrod said he will continue to scrutinize Ana Romero Rivera’s case: The autopsy report from the state chief medical examiner will only be one piece of his investigation to determine what happened at the jail prior to the suicide on Aug. 22.

The final autopsy report raises other questions. In addition to finding that Romero died of asphyxiation, as a result of the hanging, the final autopsy report said she had abrasions on both hands.

Harrod said he saw the abrasions when he pronounced her dead, but he did not know what caused them. Romero had been placed in isolation for not eating just before her death.

Despite the fact that she was in isolation for not eating, there were signs that she had eaten prior to her death: Romero had “Congestion of the lungs with foreign vegetable material within the bronchi,” according to the report.

The report describes her as “well-nourished” at five-feet-one and 118 pounds.

Harrod said Friday that in addition to subpoenaing Kentucky State Police records of its investigation into Romero’s death, he has also subpoenaed jail and records of the emergency medical technicians who transported her to the hospital.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Ron Turley said KSP will close its investigation as soon as it receives a copy of the autopsy report.

The autopsy report said Romero had a substance called amitriptyline, an anti-depressant, in her system.

Romero’s family called for an investigation into her death because they did not think she committed suicide, and were concerned about how she was treated at the jail.

She complained of being sick and vomiting prior to her death.

The attorney representing Romero’s family, Matthew Pippin of Shelbyville, did not return calls for comment.

Franklin County Jailer Billy Roberts has not responded to questions of why Romero was in isolation or whether she had received medical treatment prior to her death. Roberts did not return calls for comment.

Though Romero was in the Franklin County jail, she was technically in federal custody after pleading guilty to immigration fraud.

On Aug. 22, the day she was pronounced dead, she was going to be transferred to ICE custody for deportation, ICE officials said.

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Franklin coroner asks for records in jail death

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on October 1, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

By Valarie Honeycutt Spears
vhoneycutt@herald-leader.com

Franklin County Coroner Will Harrod plans to subpoena police records to help determine how a Salvadoran immigrant died at the Franklin County Regional Jail while awaiting deportation.

Ana Romero

Ana Romero

Harrod said Tuesday that he was called to the hospital, not the jail, so he was unable to investigate the scene where Ana Romero Rivera died.

Harrod says he will review state police records, photographs and interviews.

Romero, 44, had been placed in isolation for not eating just before her death, and a preliminary autopsy shows she died of asphyxia by hanging. Police are investigating the death as a suicide.

Harrod said that, in addition to police records, he is waiting for toxicology results and a final autopsy report.

Also this week, representatives with Immigration and Customs Enforcement revealed more information on the status of Romero’s deportation.

Though she was in the Franklin County jail, she was technically in the custody of U.S. marshals after pleading guilty to immigration fraud.

On Aug. 22, the day she was pronounced dead, she was going to be transferred to ICE custody for deportation.

ICE officials said via e-mail and in a phone interview that Romero would not have remained in the Franklin County jail. Once in ICE custody, she probably would have been transported to one of the four county jails in Illinois or southern Wisconsin that the Chicago ICE office uses.

Several factors would have played into deciding when she returned to El Salvador. Those include whether she would have waived the right to see an immigration judge, whether she had proper travel documents to return and the time of the next ICE-arranged flight to El Salvador.

Herald-Leader staff writer Steve Lannen contributed to this report.

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Report: Immigrant who died in jail hanged herself

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on September 11, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

By Jillian Ogawa
jogawa@herald-leader.com

The state medical examiner’s office released a preliminary autopsy report for the Salvadoran immigrant who died last month in the Franklin County jail while awaiting deportation.

Investigators have said Ana Romero, 44, died Aug. 21, but it had not been clear how she died.

Romero’s family and their attorney, Matthew Pippin of Louisville, had been inquiring about the report for weeks.

According to the preliminary autopsy report, which was obtained Friday by the Herald-Leader, says Romero “hanged self by neck with sheet.”

Ana Romero

Ana Romero

It says she died of asphyxia from hanging.

The jail took Romero to the hospital late Aug. 21. She was pronounced dead on Aug. 22, according to the report.

The report, which has been given to Franklin County Coroner Will Harrod, says the manner of death is still pending because there are a number of things that are still unknown, such as a toxicology report and circumstances of death.

Romero’s family had been inquiring about the circumstances surrounding her death. Last week, the family decided to seek the opinion of George Nichols II because they were concerned that officials were not aggressively investigating the case.

The Kentucky State Police also announced last week it is investigating the death as a suicide by hanging.

Romero, who came to Kentucky from El Salvador three years ago, was arrested Jan. 14 by state police after giving federal immigration officials a false identification card. Aguilar said officers were looking for another suspect when they knocked on Romero’s door.

As a result of the January charges, Romero spent five months in the Shelby County jail and was transferred to the Franklin County Regional Jail in May, where she stayed the last four months. Romero entered a guilty plea Aug. 7. She was required to pay a $100 fine, but she did not receive additional jail time.

Family members say that shortly before she died, Romero was placed in isolation for refusing to eat. Aguilar said she had telephoned several times from the jail saying her stomach hurt and she was vomiting. She said the food smelled bad and that something was wrong with it.

Pippin has said Harrod told him Romero was found Aug. 21 with a sheet around her neck.

Romero’s brother-in-law Mario Aguilar and other family members do not think she committed suicide. They wanted to hire Nichols to conduct a second autopsy if he finds it necessary. He has said he often can make a determination by reviewing the results of the first autopsy.

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