Overview
- ICE identified the detainee as Royer Perez-Jimenez, 19, who was found unresponsive at 2:34 a.m. on March 16 at Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven and pronounced dead 17 minutes later.
- Officials described the death as a presumed suicide while noting the official cause remains under investigation, and records show he denied behavioral-health issues and suicide risk during his February 26 intake screening.
- ICE says Perez-Jimenez was arrested in Volusia County on January 22 and transferred to ICE custody on February 21, though the Associated Press reports the sheriff’s office could not locate an arrest record matching ICE’s account.
- The facility was shut in 2022 over detainee-care concerns and reopened in April 2025, and Perez-Jimenez is the youngest person to die in ICE custody during President Trump’s second term with at least 13 deaths reported so far this year.
- Per policy, DHS oversight offices and the Mexican consulate were notified; Mexico called the deaths unacceptable and requested a prompt, thorough U.S. investigation.