Dec. 25 (UPI) — A Nigerian man has died in federal immigration custody in Maryland after being convicted days earlier of sexually assaulting a minor, authorities said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Monday that Anthony Oluseye Akinyemi, 56, was pronounced died Saturday morning after he was found unresponsive in his cell at the Worcester County Jail in Snow Hill, some 18 miles southeast of Salisbury, Md.
The preliminary cause of death is self-inflicted strangulation, ICE said, adding that the death is currently being investigated.
“ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases,” it said.
The review will be conducted by senior ICE leadership, it said.
Akinyemi had been in ICE custody less than 24 hours before his death, the statement said. He had entered ICE custody Friday after being convicted by a Baltimore City Circuit Court for the sexual assault of a minor.
In connection to his arrest for sexual abuse of a minor, ICE had lodged an immigration detainer against Akinyemi in July, it said, adding that he entered the United States lawfully in December 2017.
According to federal records, Akinyemi is the eighth person to die in ICE custody in 2019.
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