Royer Perez-Jimenez, a 19-year-old Mexican national, died of a “presumed suicide” on March 16 at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida.
According to reporting by Chiapas360, Royer Perez-Jimenez was from San Juan Chamula, an autonomous Tzotzil Maya community in Chiapas, Mexico. L.A. TACO confirmed with Odilia Romero of Cielo that Perez-Jimenez is, in fact, Mayan Tzotzil. He is a native of the Rancho Narvaez community. In Chiapas360’s reporting, they state that the family is requesting support to repatriate the body of Perez-Jimenez.
According to the ICE press release, Perez-Jimenez was found “unconscious and unresponsive” at approximately 2:34 a.m. that day by a detention officer, who called medical personnel. After medical personnel determined Perez-Jimenez had no pulse, they requested EMS, who arrived at roughly 2:42 a.m. The young man was declared deceased by 2:51 a.m. The cause of death is still under investigation.
According to Union-Bulletin, the Glades County Detention Facility has faced allegations of medical neglect in recent years. Congressional representatives called for the closure of the facility in a 2022 letter to the Department of Homeland Security. In response, the Biden Administration limited usage of the facility and raised concerns about its lack of medical care.
In 2025, the Trump administration announced that the facility would again hold detainees.
ICE alleges that Perez-Jimenez was screened by medical staff when he was initially taken into custody and stated “no” to all suicide screening questions.
There were initially five alleged suicides in ICE custody before Perez-Jimenez: Chaofend Ge, Jesus Molina-Veya, Brayan Rayo-Garzon, Victor Manuel Díaz, and Geraldo Lunas-Campos. However, the death of Lunas-Campos in Camp East Montana was later ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner.
According to ICE, Perez-Jimenez had first attempted to come into the United States in 2022, where he was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol and was given a “voluntary return” back to Mexico that same day. He later entered the United States on an unknown date.
According to the arrest affidavit obtained by Volusia County Court and reporting by Miami New Times, Perez-Jimenez was initially detained by the Edgewater Police Department on January 21 at approximately 9:41 p.m. for driving a scooter across multiple lanes of traffic without using a crosswalk and riding the scooter on a sidewalk.
At approximately 9:30 p.m., Edgewater Police Department Sergeant Castellano attempted a traffic stop by activating the patrol vehicle’s emergency lights at the intersection of Sunset View Drive and Roberts Road. Castellano then exited the vehicle with one Officer Lockhart and gave verbal commands to Perez-Jimenez to stop. According to the report, the teen “intentionally avoided the patrol vehicle by crossing over the grass and back across the street in an attempt to evade law enforcement.”
Perez-Jimenez reportedly continued to ride off for approximately a quarter of a mile before coming to a full stop on the sidewalk. Police allege he refused verbal commands to step off the scooter and sit on the ground. Officer Lockhart then made an attempt to escort Perez-Jimenez to the ground, but he reportedly tensed up and attempted to pull away. Officer Lockhart was able to take Perez-Jimenez to the ground, but reported that Perez-Jimenez continued to resist by pulling away and trying to tuck his hands under his body.
At this point, after gaining control of the teen’s body, Perez-Jimenez identified himself as “Daniel Jimense” and provided a different birthdate than his own. Sgt. Castellano would then walk the path that Perez-Jimenez took to locate any possible discarded items, during which Castellano witnessed another male who was dressed “exactly the same as the first male, coming from the same location, riding on the exact same make/model scooter.”
Castello stopped the male to question him as well, and the male provided the name of “Daniel Gonzales.” The male did not speak English and could not provide identification, so Castellano contacted a translator over the phone. They spoke with “Gonzales,” who had also provided false names and birthdates.
Both men were arrested, taken into custody, and transported to the Edgewater Police Department for processing. Both men spoke with Deputy Garcia, at which point Perez-Jimenez gave the name “Rogelio Perez” and reportedly admitted that he had overstayed his visa and was currently in the United States illegally. He also allegedly advised them that he had no documentation to prove his name or date of birth.
At this point, Deputy Garcia spoke with Deportation Officer Batista (ID# 11168) from ICE, who stated that both men were undocumented and were providing the police officers with false names. Batista asked that both men be booked under the aliases they provided, and said that “ICE would follow up with further action after they were booked at the Volusia County Branch Jail.” Perez-Jimenez’s court records and police affidavit would then be under “Rogelio Perez.” Perez-Jimenez was processed on January 22 by 1:10 a.m.
Perez-Jimenez was given an ICE detainer on January 22, which aligns with when ICE placed an immigration detainer on him, according to its press release.
The last place Jimenez-Perez was located at before being transferred to the Glades County Detention Center was the Indian Lake Jail. Jimenez-Perez was adjudicated and found guilty on February 19 of two misdemeanor counts: giving a false name upon being arrested/detained and resisting an officer without violence.
His release date is listed as February 19 and he served 30 days, according to Volusia County Circuit Court records. He was taken into ICE custody on February 21, according to today’s ICE press release. He was processed into the Glades County Detention Center on February 26.
Perez-Jimenez is at least the thirteenth person to die in ICE custody this year.
The pace of ICE custody deaths this year has outpaced last year’s over the same time period. In the same period last year, from January 2025 through March 2025, there were four deaths in ICE custody: Genry Donaldo Ruiz-Guillen, Serawit Gezahegn Dejene, Juan Alexis Tineo Martinez, and Maksym Chernyak. In the same period this year, there have been 12 so far, and March still hasn’t ended.
We reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
This is a developing story.
Note: A previous version of the story included “Volusia County Police Department” as the agency that arrested Perez-Jimenez on January 22. He was arrested by the Edgewater Police Department on January 21, according to Volusia County Court Records L.A. TACO reviewed. ICE updated their press release to reflect this information.
