Witness contradicts official account of Cuban's death in ICE custody in Georgia

A witness who was in the same cell denies the official suicide of Denny González and points to the guards at the Georgia detention center.



Stewart Detention CenterPhoto © YouTube News Leader of WTVM 9

A direct witness contradicts the official version regarding the death of Cuban Denny Adán González at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, claiming that it was physically impossible to take one's own life in the cell where he died.

Guillermo Aguilar, a deported immigrant who spent time with González in that same facility, detailed the circumstances leading up to the death of the 33-year-old Cuban, who passed away on April 28 while in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to Aguilar, it all started with a confrontation between González and an African American guard. "He argued, and Denny didn’t know any English. He didn’t understand; he just took it as the guard was saying because nothing was clear. Then they began to struggle and fight," the witness explained.

The guard fell, hit his forehead, and bled, and was taken to the hospital. Denny was then sent to the isolation cell known among the detainees as "the hole."

Aguilar, who was held in that same cell, is emphatic: "There is no way for you to hang yourself or kill yourself there. There is nothing."

The witness explains that the guards check on the detainee every two or three minutes and must sign a log confirming that he is okay. The inmate remains alone, and there are no objects to hang himself with.

Additionally, he pointed out that this cell contrasts with the general area of the facility, where about 100 people live together.

"If they had told me that he killed himself in the other place where I knew him, I would have said yes, because there is a second floor there, where one can hang themselves and there's a metal rod to tie to, but where he was, there’s no way to do that."

The death certificate officially records hanging as the cause, but Denny's mother does not believe it and demands justice. The lady told Aguilar over the phone: "The guards killed him."

Aguilar also dismisses a second version that circulates, according to which González may have ingested a liquid.

"That's a lie, because right now I can send you a video where someone spoke with the forensic expert, and she says that the reason he died was because he hanged himself, but there’s no way Denny could have hanged himself where he was," she reiterated.

His hypothesis points directly at the guards: "He fought and hit the guard. They, the guards, are friends and get along well. Denny was beaten; they went too far and killed him. That's what I am almost 100% sure really happened."

The witness also rejects any indication that González was depressed.

"Denny was not one of those people who was depressed or anything like that. No, he exercised a lot," she noted, recalling that when she last saw him in early April, the Cuban was "super happy" because he was planning to meet his son in Mexico.

Currently, the family of the Cuban who passed away in the immigrant center is seeking help to repatriate the remains of the young man to Cuba, while his brother is also demanding answers about what happened.

The death of González is the eighteenth under ICE custody so far in 2026. It is the highest number in 22 years, and the third for a Cuban during this period, following the deaths of Geraldo Lunas Campos in January —whose autopsy ruled it a homicide by asphyxiation— and Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt in April.

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Inspector General are keeping the investigation open.

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CiberCuba Editorial Team

A team of journalists committed to reporting on Cuban current affairs and topics of global interest. At CiberCuba, we work to deliver truthful news and critical analysis.