Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a statement Tuesday on the death of a man who died in their custody last weekend.
It said in part, that the man who died was “Roberto Jimenez Gutierrez,” a 43-year-old from Guatemala.
His extended family members said his age and country of origin are correct, but insist that's not his name.
“There is his name, Guillermo Pascual,” said his 22-year-old niece in Spanish.
KPBS spoke exclusively to her and a 24-year old nephew of the man at their home in San Diego County.
They did not want to be identified due to fear of retribution.
The relatives said their uncle’s full name is Guillermo Pascual Vergansa. That name was written out on an ofrenda, or altar, in their backyard.
They set it up in his honor for Día De Muertos. It had flowers, candles and his photo among other items.
“Well, we set this up — what for? To help him rest in peace, that’s why. So that he doesn’t get lost along the way. We also need to pray for him — for what happened, for the circumstances of his death,” the nephew said.
ICE previously identified their uncle as Jimenez Gutierrez, and said he had a criminal history including a wide variety of offenses like “selling liquor to a minor" and "arrests for battery against a spouse, violation of a court order, child abuse, disorderly conduct, providing false identification to a peace officer and being under the influence of drugs.”
The family insists these charges are not true.
“He’s not a criminal. Well, no, he’s just not capable of doing things like that,” the nephew said in Spanish. “It's a lie. Yes, it’s a lie.”
ICE arrested the man Oct 9. during enforcement operations in Escondido. That interaction was captured on video by a community activist.
In the video, the man identifies himself as "Roberto." The nephew said he’s unsure of exactly why his uncle did that.
Immigration agents detained him and transferred him to Otay Mesa Detention Center.
Just over two weeks later, on the morning of Oct. 24, ICE said facility staff found the man unresponsive in his cell.
He was pronounced deceased about an hour later.
“We really want to know how it happened — how things went down — but they haven’t said yet,” the nephew said.
According to ICE’s own reports, 29 people died in custody nationwide this year.
ICE said the man’s death is under investigation. They did not respond to KPBS’ specific questions on the individual’s identity in time for publication.
County officials said the Department of the Medical Examiner has not yet “officially identified” the individual, but an autopsy was done on Monday. Those results have not been released.
The county said they're trying to sort out if there are any discrepancies.
