Deaths in Custody
Puerto Rico

At least 730 people have died in custody in Puerto Rico

6 of them are named here. The rest appear only in the state’s official counts, without names.

Each dot is one of them, held in a jail, prison or lockup, or executed by the state. Some died after abuse by officers; others from withdrawal, overdose or untreated illness; many by suicide. Almost all of them show the state’s neglect of the people in its custody.

This is an undercount: many deaths are never made public, and older records are hard to find.

Records go back as far as 2004 and are current as of October 19, 2026Get email alerts for Puerto Rico

Their stories

0 people, most recent first. Choose a name, or a dot on the map.

    Their names

    When they died

    One mark per person, by the year they died. Choose the box at the side to see every decade. Coverage is uneven: recent deaths come mostly from local news since 2000, older ones from official lists and historical newspapers, so the shape shows what was recorded as much as how many people died.

    What official counts show

    CDC reports how many people die in its prisons each year, but not who they were. Most of those deaths, especially from illness, never appear in the news, so far fewer are named here. The gap is people still to be identified.

    Source: CDC reports. Official counts are deaths in state prisons only; county jails report to no central agency.

    YearReported by CDCNamed here
    2024 (FY 2023-24 (July 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024, the end of the period the Commission requested). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)620
    2023 (FY 2022-23 (July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)800
    2022 (FY 2021-22 (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)801
    2021 (FY 2020-21 (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)801
    2020 (FY 2019-20 (July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)590
    2019 (FY 2018-19 (July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)470
    2018 (FY 2017-18 (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)450
    2017 (FY 2016-17 (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)380
    2016 (FY 2015-16 (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)470
    2015 (FY 2014-15 (July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)410
    2014 (FY 2013-14 (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)510
    2013 (FY 2012-13 (July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)500
    2012 (FY 2011-12 (July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012). Deaths in DCR custody, from the death lists DCR gave the Comisión de Derechos Civiles; report of Feb. 4, 2025, table on p. 41, transcribed by hand from the scanned page. The Commission notes DCR's published reports give 94 and 84 for FY 2021-22 and 2022-23.)460

    Where these records come from

    Each bar is a source and the years its records cover. Sources checked on a schedule are searched again for new records; the others were collected once.

    1. Local news2000–today · Searched again every night · News coverage searched county by county and year by year
      2000 to today
    2. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Detainee Death Reporting and List of Deaths in ICE Custody2003–today · Checked every week · Records for this state: 2004–2025
      2003 to today
    3. Official yearly counts (CDC)2012–2024 · Checked every month · Totals only; the agency does not publish names
      2012 to 2024
    4. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, news releases on deaths in its custody2025–today · Checked every few days · Records for this state: 2025
      2025 to today

    The 6 Puerto Rico records here draw on 3 news reports from 3 outlets, mostly local newspapers and TV stations. Each person’s reports are listed with their story, so every detail can be traced to where it was published.

    How these records were made · See these records in a table

    Last updated October 19, 2026.