Private guard called 911 in ICE detainee homicide, saying man 'kept
going' after suicide attempt
[January 24, 2026]
By RYAN J. FOLEY and MICHAEL BIESECKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Cuban immigrant at a Texas detention center tried to
hang himself, was restrained by guards in handcuffs, and stopped
breathing during a subsequent struggle, according to a 911 call from a
private security contractor.
A caller identifying himself as Lt. Paul Walden called for emergency
help as medical staff tried to revive Geraldo Lunas Campos on Jan. 3 at
Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas. A county medical examiner ruled
earlier this week that the death was a homicide.
“He tried to hang himself, and then we put him in cuffs, and he kept
going,” Walden said, according to a recording of the call The Associated
Press obtained through a Texas public information request. He did not
elaborate on how Lunas Campos tried to hang himself or what happened
afterward. The City of El Paso redacted parts of the call to protect
medical information.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees Camp East
Montana, did not mention in its initial statement on the death that
Lunas Campos had attempted suicide or been physically restrained. It did
not immediately respond to questions Friday about the 911 call.
The 911 call lends some support to an amended description of the
incident an agency spokesperson offered days later that guards
intervened to help when Lunas Campos tried to kill himself. Lunas Campos
“violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take
his life,” and stopped breathing during the struggle, the spokesperson
said.
A witness told The Associated Press last week that Lunas Campos was
handcuffed as at least five guards held him down and one put an arm
around his neck and squeezed until he was unconscious.
The El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of Lunas
Campos, 55, a homicide caused by asphyxia due to compression to his neck
and torso. Unlike many homicides, it is unclear whether any law
enforcement agency outside of ICE is investigating the death.
The autopsy report said witnesses saw Lunas Campos become unresponsive
while being restrained by guards. It found injuries consistent with
guards holding him down and putting pressure on his neck and back until
his body did not have enough oxygen to survive.
Camp East Montana was built last year to house thousands of immigrants
in the desert at Fort Bliss, a massive Army base just a few miles from
the U.S. border with Mexico.
The 911 caller, Walden, has been a detention officer with federal
contractor Akima Global Services since Sept. 1, which was within days of
the camp’s opening, according to his Texas private security guard
license. Walden, 25, didn’t respond to messages left at a phone number
and email address associated with him. Akima, which also did not return
messages seeking comment, provides detention and security services for
ICE.
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This undated photo provided by Jeanette Pagan-Lopez shows Geraldo
Lunas Campos with his three children. Lunas Campos died Jan. 3,
2026, at an ICE detention facility in El Paso, Texas. (Jeanette
Pagan-Lopez via AP)
A second Camp East Montana official called police asking for an
investigation of the death shortly after Lunas Campos was declared
dead, but was rebuffed, according to records and phone calls
released Friday. That man said he did not witness the death but had
been told it was a suicide.
ICE’s initial statement on the death said Lunas Campos became
disruptive while in line for medication, refused to return to his
dorm and was placed in solitary confinement. The statement said
staff then “observed him in distress” and contacted medical staff to
treat him.
ICE took custody of Lunas Campos, who had lived in the U.S. since
1996, last July after an operation in Rochester, New York. An
immigration judge had ordered his removal in 2005 after he'd been
convicted of sexual contact with a minor, but his deportation never
happened. He later served prison time on a drug charge, and he had
been released from state supervision in New York in 2017.
Walden told the dispatcher that Lunas Campos, who had a history of
bipolar disorder and anxiety, had vomited and urinated on himself.
He said Camp East Montana staffers were using a portable
defibrillator to try to restore his heartbeat.
El Paso Fire Department paramedics found Lunas Campos “pulseless and
apneic on the floor of his cell” as staff members performed CPR,
according to an incident report obtained by AP. They provided
“advanced life support” before he was pronounced dead.
An hour after Walden’s call, a man identifying himself as Camp East
Montana deputy director Daniel Rios called the county sheriff’s
office to request a death investigation. The county transferred the
call to the city. Rios said he was driving to the camp and did not
witness the death.
“I believe he just hung himself,” Rios said. But he added that he
didn’t have details and, “I don’t want to lie to you.”
Rios called back an hour later after no one responded, asking when
detectives would arrive. Records show the El Paso Police Department
did not get involved.
___
Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.
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