Johana Medina Leon
Johana Medina Leon, 25, worked as a nurse technician and was an LGBTQ and HIV advocate who, for nearly a decade in El Salvador, volunteered with Gay Sin Fronteras, accompanying queer and transgender people to medical appointments. Friends remember her as always optimistic, often saying 'Everything is possible.' She was held at the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico, and her health declined sharply there before ICE released her while she was hospitalized in El Paso. She died on June 1, 2019; her death certificate listed sepsis, with pneumonia and HIV as underlying causes, while a private autopsy found a blood clot and a fungal infection.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed). The death certificate lists sepsis, with pneumonia and HIV as underlying causes, while a private autopsy found a blood clot and a fungal infection.
Reported by: death certificate; private autopsy.