![\"Victor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/25cd996133c8aae1c7f72483ec70ee7d.jpeg\"\/)
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Victor Manuel Diaz is the third detainee to die at Camp East Montana, the nation\u2019s largest migrant detention center, located at Fort Bliss near El Paso. Courtesy of Diaz family<\/p>\n
Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban, died at Camp East Montana on Jan. 3, just 11 days before Diaz\u2019s death. Initially, an ICE press release<\/a> said Lunas Campos died after \u201cexperiencing medical distress.\u201d About a week later, ICE told the Associated Press that he died during a suicide attempt<\/a> after staff attempted to save him.<\/p>\n The El Paso Medical Examiner\u2019s autopsy report, released on Jan. 21, says Lunas Campos died from \u201casphyxia due to neck and torso compression,\u201d meaning that he couldn\u2019t breathe because of pressure on his neck and chest. It\u2019s unclear whether the medical examiner\u2019s finding will lead to criminal charges or prosecution<\/a>.<\/p>\n Randall Kallinen, Diaz\u2019s family\u2019s attorney, said the public outcry over that homicide ruling may explain why ICE turned to a military hospital to do the next autopsy of a migrant who died in their custody.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy did they go against their previous practice?\u201d Kallinen said.<\/p>\n ICE did not respond to questions about Diaz\u2019s autopsy.<\/p>\n Ang\u00e9lica C\u00e9sar, a fellow at Human Rights Watch, said the concern isn\u2019t just about where Diaz\u2019s autopsy is being done, \u201cbut really who controls the process and whether it\u2019s independent from (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s) custodial authority.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe more credible approach here would have been for local, independent authorities with no institutional ties to DHS to conduct the autopsy and the investigation,\u201d C\u00e9sar said. \u201cAnd this would ultimately protect both the families and the integrity of the investigative process itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Kallinen said Diaz\u2019s family is not convinced he took his own life. He said they spoke to Diaz, who lived alone in the U.S., by phone from Nicaragua and he didn\u2019t sound depressed. If he had been deported back to Nicaragua, his entire family was there to receive him.<\/p>\n