An update from Franklin County Coroner Will Harrod who is trying to determine the cause and manner of death of a Salvadoran immigrant who was in the Franklin County Regional Jail waiting for deportation:
Harrod said Tuesday that because he was called to the Frankfort Regional Medical Center and therefore did not have a chance to investigate the Franklin County Jail scene that led to Ana Romero Rivera’s death, he will issue a coroner’s subpoena for Kentucky State Police records and any photographs KSP officers took at jail or the hospital.
Harrod said Tuesday he will review Kentucky State Police officers have interviewed at the Franklin County jail. Romero, 44, had been placed in isolation for not eating just prior to her death.
A preliminary autopsy report from the state chief medical examiner’s office shows that Romero died of asphyxia by hanging. Kentucky State Police officials are investigating the death as a suicide
According to a dispatch transcript from the Frankfort Police Department, obtained through an open records request, staff at the jail made a 911 call about 11:15 p.m. Aug. 21, requesting an ambulance for Romero because she was not breathing and a CPR unit was assisting. At 11:19 p.m., “jail staff advised she hung herself and was not breathing.”
The medical examiner’s report says the jail sent Romero to the Frankfort Regional Medical Center late Aug. 21. Harrod pronounced Romero dead about 2:40 a.m. Aug. 22.
Meanwhile, Franklin Commonwealth’s Attorney Larry Cleveland said last week that he will review the Kentucky State Police investigation to see whether further action is warranted. Cleveland has the power to ask a grand jury to investigate the death.
Members of Congress have recently demanded that more information be released about the deaths of at least 71 illegal immigrants who have died in U.S. custody since 2004 while awaiting deportation.
ICE officials responded to stories in the New York Times and Washington Post.
– Valarie Honeycutt Spears
What would have happened to Ana Romero had she not apparently committed suicide in the Franklin County jail?
Romero was in the Franklin jail, but technically in the custody of the U.S. Marshals after pleading guilty to immigration fraud. On Aug. 22, she was going to be transferred to ICE custody for deportation. She was found in an isolation cell on the night of Aug. 21.
It is impossible to say for sure what would have happened next, but spokespersons with Immigration and Customs Enforcement said via e-mail and in a phone interview that Romero would not have remained in the 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.
From there, it is hard to say how long it would have taken for Romero to be deported. Several factors such as whether she would have waived the right to see an immigration judge, whether she had proper travel documents to return to El Salvador and when the next ICE-arranged flight to El Salvador is scheduled.
– Steve Lannen
RECENT COMMENTS