Jakelin Caal
Jakelin Caal was seven years old and came from San Antonio Secortez, Guatemala. She crossed into the United States with her father, Nery Caal, who had hoped to find work. She became sick on a bus to a Border Patrol station, arrived with a high fever, and was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died on December 8, 2018. U.S. officials said she likely had little to eat or drink before reaching the border, and it remains unclear how she became ill. A pediatrician told a House Homeland Security Committee that septic shock went untreated for many hours and led to multiple organ failure, and that timely pediatric care could have prevented her death. A DHS inspector general report found no malfeasance by individual Border Patrol officers, but a congressional chairman called that report incomplete.
Cause of death, as reported: Died from neglect by staff (disputed). A pediatrician told the House Homeland Security Committee that septic shock went untreated for many hours, and a congressional chairman called the DHS inspector general's finding of no individual malfeasance incomplete.
Reported by: Fiona Danaher, a paediatrician, as told to the House Homeland Security Committee; DHS inspector general (outside investigators); U.S. agents (the agency that held her).