Jakelin Caal Maquin
Jakelin Caal Maquin was a seven-year-old girl from the Q'eqchi' village of Raxruhá in Guatemala, who traveled north with her father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz, and her family said she was well fed and in good health when they reached the border in December 2018. After she and her father turned themselves in to Border Patrol in New Mexico, she became ill with fever, vomiting and seizures, and was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died on December 8. The El Paso County medical examiner attributed her death to a rapidly progressive streptococcal infection that led to sepsis and organ failure. DHS and CBP said she had gone without food or water for days and cited a delay in medical attention, while the family's lawyers dispute that account and have called for an independent investigation.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). The El Paso County medical examiner ruled the death natural from streptococcal sepsis, while Customs and Border Protection said she died of dehydration and shock, and her family's lawyers dispute that account and seek an independent investigation; a congressman said no proper health screening was done and the lawyers question whether earlier medical care could have saved her.
Reported by: El Paso County Medical Examiner's office (medical examiner or coroner); U.S. Customs and Border Protection (the agency that held her); Department of Homeland Security (the agency that held her); Her family's lawyers (family or their lawyers).
Sources (25)
- 7-year-old migrant girl taken into Border Patrol custody dies of dehydration, exhaustion
- New details about 7-year-old migrant girl's death in custody
- Family of migrant Guatemalan girl disputes official story of her death
- Anger grows after death of Guatemalan migrant girl held in US
- Family of 7-year-old girl who died while in border patrol custody calls for 'thorough' investigation - ABC News
- Border Patrol head didn't tell Congress about Jakelin Caal Maquin to avoid 'politicizing' girl's death - ABC News
- Father says girl who died in CBP custody didn't lack food, water
- Protests after Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, dies in US border custody
- Why did a little Guatemalan girl die after crossing the US border?
- Who Killed Jakelin Caal Maquín at the US Border?
- Guatemalan migrant girl who died in El Paso awaits long journey to home village
- Lawyers for migrant girl who died in custody call for investigation
- The Death Of A Girl At The Border: Even More Preventable, And Tragic, Than We Knew
- Body of migrant girl who died in U.S. Border Patrol custody arrives home in Guatemala
- Body of seven-year-old migrant child who died in US custody at border returned to Guatemala
- Deaths of migrant kids underscore risks of hieleras
- 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in custody at border had 'rapidly progressive infection'
- 7-year-old Guatemalan girl in U.S. custody died of bacterial infection
- Migrant child who died in U.S. custody had infection, autopsy shows
- Autopsy For 7-Year-Old Migrant Who Died In U.S. Custody Shows She Died Of Sepsis
- Trump twists circumstances of a migrant girl's death: AP fact check
- Portraits of six migrant kids who died in U.S. custody - Los Angeles Times
- Inspector General Report Says 'No Misconduct' Found in the Cases of 2 Children Who Died in Border Patrol Custody
- A Guatemalan village buries Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, who died in US custody
- 'No misconduct' found in deaths of 2 migrant children, DHS watchdog says - ABC News