Colombian president blasts U.S. government after St. Louis man died in ICE custody last year

St. Louis Public Radio | By Brian Munoz
Published May. 28, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. CDT

Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for a formal diplomatic protest of the United States government in response to Brayan Garzón-Rayo’s death in a Rolla jail last year.

“A young Colombian man committed suicide in an ICE detention camp run by the U.S. government,” Petro wrote in Spanish in a social media post on Wednesday. “He wanted to call his mother, but was not permitted to do so. He chose to take his own life.”

Petro also called on Colombia’s foreign ministry to denounce President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, alleging they are “killing both Americans and Latin Americans.”

The politically embroiled Petro is in his final days as the Latin American country’s leader, as he is constitutionally barred from running for another consecutive term, but appears to have spoken up after renewed reporting around Garzón-Rayo’s case.

St. Louis Public Radio previously found that the 27-year-old struggled with various health issues and did not receive a proper mental health screening as required under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy. Garzón-Rayo killed himself days later.

Lucy “Adriana” Garzón, his mother, previously told STLPR that her son complained of nausea, vomiting and stomach pain — symptoms consistent with later accounts from ICE officials.

An ICE report on Garzón-Rayo’s death said that, days after he was booked into the Phelps County Jail, a medical screening documented several health concerns, including labored breathing, anxiety and a self-reported history of a heart murmur.

Thirty-two people died in ICE custody in 2025, an analysis by the Guardian found, the most in more than two decades.

An investigation by the Associated Press found that ICE detainees died by suicide at “alarming” rates, citing Garzón-Rayo’s case and that of Leo Cruz-Silva. The latter was a 34-year-old Mexican man who had resided in suburban St. Louis and appeared to have also died by suicide at the Ste. Genevieve County Jail last October, a facility that also contracts to hold ICE detainees.[…]