LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A 42-year-old Honduran citizen died in his New York jail cell while in ICE custody last week, leaving behind a daughter and former girlfriend in Lexington who are now fighting to bring his body home for burial.
Santos Reyes-Bangegas, who went by Allen, was found dead after being in custody for less than a day. ICE says he had been deported at least four times previously and had lived in Kentucky in 2019 before being sent back to Honduras.
The preliminary cause of death was found to be liver failure, and Reyes-Bangegas had a history of drinking. However, his former girlfriend Mary Diaz, who now has custody of his daughter Juana, questions the circumstances surrounding his death.
"We want answers, you know, we knew he was healthy," Diaz said.
She described Reyes-Bangegas as having worked 12 hours in tobacco fields and maintained a physically demanding routine when they were together in 2014.
The family learned of Reyes-Bangegas' death from another prisoner who was at the same jail, not from ICE or jail officials.
"They didn't even have enough nerve. His brothers and sisters and them are still in New York. They've never been spoke to by ICE. The jail has never reached out to them," Diaz said.
"He's not a dog. He's human," she added.
Diaz has been trying to get Reyes-Bangegas' body back to Kentucky for nearly a week so his daughter can say goodbye properly. Diaz plans to travel to New York herself to seek answers.
"I want medical records," Diaz said.
The family wants to hold a funeral service in Kentucky before sending his body to Honduras, where the rest of his family lives.
"You can't hold a body forever. He needs to go home. We can't be playing. His daughter, his grandbaby over there, they deserve him home. They don't deserve him to lay here and rot," Diaz said.
Reyes-Bangegas' daughter expressed her grief over losing her father.
"I'm just so sad that I never got to see my papa," Juana said.
Diaz said the situation has been traumatic for the child.
"My baby has to suffer for the rest of her life knowing that her dad was taken by the hands of our government," Diaz said.
To help cover funeral and travel expenses, Juana and Diaz went around Lexington asking businesses to set up donation jars.
"I have this jar to raise money to get my dad to here from New York and then to Honduras so I can have at least a little service," Juana said.
The family has also set up a GoFundMe page to help with expenses. There's also another GoFundMe set up in New York.
ICE says the death remains under investigation.
