phoenix — A Haitian man’s death after spending months in an immigration detention center in Arizona was linked to problems with his teeth, a family member claimed, an autopsy report released Monday confirmed.
But the report also mentioned 56-year-old Emmanuel Damas, whose brother previously said died of an illness Untreated tooth infectionHe refused recommendations at dental appointments to remove his problem teeth.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that Damas died of complications from a chest infection with abscesses in his neck and throat area. The cause of death also indicates serious problems with his teeth.
Damas, who died after being detained at the Central Arizona Florence Correctional Center in Florence, Arizona, is one of at least 51 detainees who have died in ICE custody since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in January 2025.
Like his death, medical examiners ruled the majority of the others were due to natural causes. Experts said many of them suffer from conditions that can be prevented through effective and timely medical care.
His death is the only death in which dental problems were listed as a cause or contributing factor in the thirty deaths where this information has been published by medical examiners and coroners.
Damas’ autopsy report said he was placed on a waiting list after a dental examination in October recommended that a certain tooth be extracted. When his chance to have it removed came three months later, the report said, he declined, saying it no longer hurt him.
At a later date in mid-February, Damas declined another recommendation to have her teeth removed. Days later, when Damas complained of a sore throat and abdominal pain, detention center staff asked him to go to the medical unit, but he refused, according to the autopsy report.
He was hospitalized on February 19 due to respiratory failure and was subsequently sent to other hospitals for a higher level of care. He died March 2 at a hospital in Scottsdale.
Raymond Oden, the attorney representing Damas’ family, said in a statement that Damas died because of failures by ICE and the private corrections company that ran the Florence facility to provide him with basic medical care.
The family also hired a private pathologist to perform an autopsy on Damas, though Oden declined a request from The Associated Press for this report.
Oden wrote that the county’s autopsy “confirms what Mr. Damas’ family has concluded through their own investigation: that Mr. Damas died of sepsis as a result of an infection running down his head and neck that began with a toothache. Mr. Damas pleaded with prison staff for medical attention on numerous occasions including the night before he was admitted to the hospital, but was ignored.”
CoreCivic, which runs the facility in Florence, said in a statement that it takes the deaths of detainees at its facilities very seriously.
“Although we are unable to share specific information about detainee medical care due to federal privacy laws, we are committed to providing safe, humane and respectful care to every person we entrust,” CoreCivic said. “We take seriously our obligation to adhere to all applicable federal detention standards and will continue to ensure that all detainees receive timely and appropriate medical care.”
The AP left a message with ICE requesting comment on the autopsy report.
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Associated Press writer Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.