8-year-old Guatemalan boy dies in US custody on Christmas Eve

An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy, Felipe Alonzo-Gomez, died late Christmas Eve in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection. According to the agency, he is the second Guatemalan child to die in their custody this month.

Felipe Alonzo-Gomez, who was detained with his father, died shortly before midnight at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, about 90 miles north of the border crossing in El Paso, Texas.

According to CNN, The boy was taken to the hospital Monday after a border agent noticed signs of illness, and the medical staff first diagnosed him with a common cold and later detected a fever.
"The child was held for an additional 90 minutes for observation and then released from the hospital mid-afternoon on December 24 with prescriptions for amoxicillin and Ibuprofen," CBP said in a news release. Amoxicillin is a commonly prescribed antibiotic. 

 

On Monday evening, the boy began vomiting and was taken back to the hospital for evaluation. He died hours later, the CBP said. 

 

CBP Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan commiserates with the family of the deceased On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

 

The official cause of death is unknown. CBP is conducting a review and will release more details as they become available, it said.