Thirty-four-year-old, David Hernandez Colula was pronounced dead at 2am on February 21 at Mercy Health-Saint Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital in Ohio after he was found unresponsive. The preliminary cause of death appears to be self-inflicted strangulation. He is the seventh person to die under the custody of Immigration Customs Enforcement in the last five months.
According to a statement from ICE spokesperson, Khaalid Walls, Colula was initially booked in the Immigration Detention Center in Battle Creek on December 4, 2019 for an outstanding warrant but was transferred to Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown Ohio on December 10.
The outstanding warrant was related to an incident in Rochester, New York back in 2014 when Colula was apprehended by U.S Border Patrol for not having a legal status.
The family of Colula has established a gofundme to raise funds for funeral expenses and burial in Mexico.
Colula died ten days before the Northest Ohio Coorectional Center officially ended its contract with ICE. He was one of more than 300 people being held at the detention center.
Michelle Jokisch Polo, WGVU News.