A Nigerian man, Anthony Oluseye Akinyemi in the custody of U.S. Immigration and
Enforcement at the Worcester County Jail in Snow Hill, Maryland, died of suspected
suicide on Saturday morning at the facility.
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The 56-year-old man was pronounced dead at 5:23 a.m. local time on December 21,
2019, early on Saturday morning after officials at the Immigration detention center
found him unresponsive in his cell.
Efforts by facility staff and emergency personnel to revive him were unsuccessful.
ICE in a statement published on its website said, “The preliminary cause of death
appears to be self-inflicted strangulation; however, the case is currently under
investigation. Consistent with the agency’s protocols, the appropriate agencies have
been notified about the death, including the Department of Homeland Security’s Office
of Inspector General, and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility.
The statement continues “Additionally, ICE has notified the Nigerian consulate and Mr.
Akinyemi’s next of kin.
“ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is
undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such
cases.
“Fatalities in ICE custody, statistically, are exceedingly rare and occur at a fraction of
the national average for the U.S. detained population.
“This agency’s comprehensive review will be conducted by ICE senior leadership to
include Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Office of Professional Responsibility
and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.”
ICE said Akinyemi had been in their custody for less than 24 hours before his alleged
suicide and was in removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts for
failing to abide by the terms of his December 2017 nonimmigrant visa issued to him.
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Akinyemi is at least the eighth person to die in ICE custody in 2019. He was convicted
last week in Baltimore City circuit court for a sex offense and assault of a minor in
Baltimore.