The death of a Cuban migrant inside a Texas immigration detention facility has been officially classified as a homicide, according to an El Paso county autopsy report.

Wednesday’s autopsy report from the El Paso county medical examiner’s office concluded that Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died from “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression”, according to Adam Gonzalez, a deputy medical examiner.

The report, which the Associated Press reviewed, also cited witnesses saying Lunas Campos became “unresponsive while being physically restrained by law enforcement”. The document added that Lunas Campos had injuries on his chest and knees – as well as petechial hemorrhages in the eyelids and neck.

Lunas Campos died on 3 January while being held by federal immigration officials at Camp East Montana, a detention facility near El Paso. Confirming Lunas Campos’s death earlier in January, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that Lunas Campos died after “experiencing medical distress” – adding that his death was under investigation.

However, according to a witness who had previously spoken to the Associated Press, Lunas Campos was handcuffed while at least five guards pinned him down, with one squeezing his neck until he became unconscious.

According to the DHS, Lunas Campos was arrested in July during an immigration sweep in Rochester, New York. Lunas Campos, who entered the US in 1996, had been charged with child sexual abuse, possession of a firearm and aggravated assault.

Attorneys representing Lunas Campos’s family have moved to block the deportation of two people they say witnessed the events leading to his death, ABC reported. In an emergency petition filed on Tuesday and granted by a federal judge, the lawyers argued that the witnesses’ accounts were essential to establishing what occurred.

“The two witnesses appear to have unique knowledge and independent eyewitness testimony of the events at issue,” the petition stated, according to ABC, which added that Lunas Campos’s family planned to seek formal testimony from the witnesses.

In the DHS’s initial statement following Lunas Campos’s death, officials said “Lunas became disruptive while in line for medication and refused to return to his assigned dorm”.

“He was subsequently placed in segregation,” that statement continued. “While in segregation, staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance.”

However, the DHS changed its account after reports emerged in recent weeks that Lunas Campos’s death might be classified as a homicide.

The DHS claimed in a statement to the Guardian on 15 January that Lunas Campos had attempted suicide and that he “violently resisted” guards who tried to help him. Similarly, the Associated Press reported the DHS claiming that “during the ensuing struggle, Lunas Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness”.

The Guardian has reached out to DHS for comment on the published autopsy report.

According to ICE, the agency’s detention standards “ensure that detainees are treated humanely; protected from harm; provided appropriate medical and mental health care; and receive the rights and protections to which they are entitled”.

At least four migrants – including Lunas Campos – have died in US immigration custody since the beginning of year. The deaths of 32 people in custody in 2025 made it ICE’s deadliest year in two decades.

DALLAS (AP) — Texas and Oklahoma braced for heavy snow and ice that could make roadways treacherous Friday in what forecasters predict will be some of the initial effects of a huge, dayslong winter storm threatening catastrophic damage, extensive power outages and bitterly cold weather to the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.

In the Houston area, a utility company had 3,300 employees ready to work the winter storm, while Oklahoma’s Department of Transportation pretreated highways and interstates with salt brine. Freezing rain and sleet were also expected in New Mexico as early as Friday.

The massive storm system is expected to bring a crippling ice storm from Texas through parts of the South, potentially around a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Oklahoma through Washington, D.C., New York and Boston, and then a final punch of bitterly cold air that could drop wind chills to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 46 Celsius) in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.

Forecasters are warning the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. About 160 million people were under winter storm or cold weather watches or warnings — and in many places both.

Cold air streaming down from Canada caused Chicago Public Schools and Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa to cancel classes Friday. Wind chills predicted to be as low as minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 37 Celsius) could cause frostbite within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.

The cold punch coming after means it will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect in places where ice and snow weighs down tree branches and power lines and cuts electricity, perhaps for days. Roads and sidewalks could remain icy well into next week.

Ice can add hundreds of pounds to power lines and branches and make them more susceptible to snapping, especially in windy weather.

Freezing temperatures are expected all the way to Florida, forecasters said.

A severe cold snap five years ago took down much of the power grid in Texas, leaving millions without power for days and resulting in hundreds of deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that won’t happen again, saying the power system “has never been stronger.”

Winter storms can be notoriously tricky to forecast, with forecasters saying the places with the worst weather can’t be pinned down until the event starts.

Governors in Georgia and Mississippi have declared states of emergency.

In Huntsville, Alabama, employees from Jomo’s Power Equipment, Parts & Service Inc. sold dozens of generators within about a day and ordered an emergency shipment to meet customer demand.

“I’d say 95% of the calls were generator-related or either service or ‘Do you have any generators in stock,’” Bryan Hill, the store’s manager, said Thursday.

Lindsay Sylvester in Toney, Alabama, stocked up early in the week on bread and other supplies at her home and sent her son, who is in college, bread, gloves, candles and hand warmers.

Sylvester said she went to the store early in the week because she knew supplies would be depleted close to the weekend.

“A couple of people I heard talking about they had gone to Walmart and there was no milk, no bread,” she said. “All the necessities were gone.”

As a precaution, North Carolina’s largest public school system prepared for potentially several days out of physical classrooms next week, telling its teachers to create three days of assignments accessible online or through paper copies.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger told residents to prepare for days without power or the ability to leave their neighborhoods. And in a nod to the politics of the time, the newly inaugurated Democrat said people should not be scared to call 911 in an emergency just because of the immigration crackdowns going on in places like Minnesota.

Arkansas Department of Transportation spokesperson Dave Parker pleaded for people to be patient and stay home if possible once the storm hits.

By Thursday, airlines had canceled hundreds of flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday, including at airports in Dallas, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

At a busy grocery store near downtown Dallas, Kennedi Mallard and Frank Green loaded two shopping carts full of supplies into their car. They said there were some bare shelves inside.

“No water, no eggs, no butter, no ground meat,” Green said.

___

Megnien reported from Atlanta and Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers around the country contributed to this report.

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 Cashius Howell, EDGE

• Height: 6’2
• Weight: 248 lbs
• Class: RS-Senior
• School: Texas A&M
• STATS

An underweight former three-star recruit out of Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was 30th ranked in his state and the 207th ranked athlete during the 2021 recruiting cycle. Howell initially attended Bowling Green University, where he played three seasons. He shined in his third season, earning 44 pressures. 

Howell entered the transfer portal after the 2023 season and took his talents to Texas A&M for his final two collegiate years. He was a four-star recruit in the transfer portal – the 8th ranked EDGE and the 60th overall player.  

Howell is high energy and he recorded 75 pressures over his two seasons as an Aggie, along with 51 hurries and 43 STOPs. Pro Football Focus had him with a 90+ pass rushing grade in each of his last three seasons. 

He was a Unanimous All-American in 2025 and was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year – domination! He was also Third Team All-MAC in 2023. Howell will be in attendance at the Senior Bowl.

Strengths

• Shorter build with exceptional burst off the LOS
• Very good athlete with excellent get-off and lateral agility
• Very explosive player with excellent closing burst
• Sifts through tight quarters smoothly – good twitch 
• Excellent ability to win high side
• Very good bend at the top of the arc
• Has an array of pass rushing moves in his arsenal
• Violent cross-chop w/ inside spin moves + an ability to convert speed to power
• Controlled spin moves and excellent footwork with his counters
• Most dangerous move is high-side rush w/ rip
• Threatens high side enough to work his secondary/tertiary moves
• Can sink the inside shoulder fluidly w/ elite cornering ability 
• Physical at the point of attack with good overall play strength 
• His strength his maximized when moving forward and hunting
• Solid at setting the edge, although technique can improve to mask size concern
• Does well against tight ends in the run game – physically separates and finds football
• Quick to find the correct path on the backside to make tackles
• Has an excellent nose for the football 
• Good tackler with very good pursuit ability
• High football IQ – understands angles with excellent reactive quickness
• Knows when to get his mitts in the air to bat passes down
• Can drop into coverage – won’t be lost
• Versatile and can be aligned across the front

Weaknesses

• Is shorter than most EDGE rushers
• Frame is lean 
• Arm length will be a major discussion point 
• Athletic ability is more conducive to going forward rather than backward
• Has counter moves but could be more efficient getting to them effectively 
• Not a liability as a run defender but it’s a work in progress
• Technique/positioning can improve as run defender vs. tackles
• Runs himself out of his run responsibility too frequently 
• Not the most natural in coverage but can do it
• Is an older prospect
• Wears his emotions on his sleeves – can toe the line of drawing a whistle