Surveillance video of Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender woman from Honduras, who died while in custody of ICE officials in New Mexico last year, was deleted, according to lawyers representing Hernandez’s family.
CNN reports: “The company that runs the facility says their cameras automatically overwrote the video. The attorneys said the footage could be key evidence revealing the events leading up to the death of Roxsana Hernandez, a 33-year-old from Honduras who died May 25, 2018, in New Mexico from AIDS complications. The death of Hernandez, who’d come to the United States in a group of transgender migrants who were part of a caravan last year, drew widespread attention and sparked accusations from advocates that she hadn’t received adequate medical care while in US custody beginning May 9, 2018. ICE officials said Hernandez wasn’t in their custody long enough to assess the situation and begin proper treatment.”
Said attorney Andrew Free: “They were on notice to preserve any and all video surveillance and it seems they may have failed to do so. We filed suit because we have reason to believe they may be withholding more evidence. The public has the right to know what happened to people who die in the custody of the US government and CoreCivic is not above the law.”
