Brayan Garzón-Rayo, left, and his sister Deisy Garzón in an undated photograph. Federal immigration officials said Brayan Garzón-Rayo, who later died under their custody, did not receive a mental health evaluation due to staffing shortages that day and later testing positive for COVID-19.
Photo by Deisy Garzón

No mental health evaluation for St. Louis man who died by suicide in ICE custody

St. Louis Public Radio | By Brian Munoz, Chad Davis
Published May 12, 2025 at 4:56 p.m. CDT
Updated May 12, 2025 at 9:09 p.m. CDT

A St. Louis man who died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement never received a mental health evaluation, ICE said. Previous reporting by St. Louis Public Radio uncovered that Brayan Garzón-Rayo died by suicide.

ICE released a detainee death report that includes a timeline of Garzón-Rayo’s immigration history, dating to Nov. 30, 2023, when he was detained by U.S. Border Patrol near San Ysidro, California. The report says that Garzón-Rayo, who is from Colombia, entered the U.S. illegally. He’d been living in St. Louis since arriving in the country…