Man confirmed dead in ICE custody at Stewart Detention Center

Dany Adan Gonzalez, a 33-year old from Cuba, died Tuesday evening at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. His was being held at the nearly 2000-bed facility where private prison corporation CoreCivic detains immigrants in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

An ICE press release said Gonzalez is believed to have died by suicide while in solitary confinement, but the official cause is still under investigation. He had been held in Stewart since January 2026.

This is the 30th death in ICE custody of the 2026 fiscal year, which began in October—making it the most deadly year since for which data is available. 24 people died in fiscal year 2025. Stewart Detention Center has long been among the deadliest immigration detention facilities in the country, with 15 total deaths since it opened in 2006. 

49 people have died in ICE custody since President Donald Trump began his second term in office and launched a mass deportation effort.

CoreCivic’s director of Public Affairs, Ryan Gustin, provided the following statement via email:

“On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at approximately 10:26 PM, a staff member at the Stewart Detention Center (SDC) called a medical emergency after finding an unresponsive individual inside of his living area. Responding medical staff quickly arrived and began lifesaving measures and called for emergency medical services (EMS) to respond to the facility. EMS arrived and continued lifesaving efforts, but the individual was pronounced deceased before being transported from the facility. We are deeply saddened by and take very seriously the passing of any individual in our care. Our government partners at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were notified immediately of this incident.”

Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Americus office are investigating the in-custody death, according to GBI spokesperson Agent Sara Lue. 

ICE had not yet responded to a request for comment or publicly disclosed Gonzalez’s passing through its Detainee Death Reporting tracker.

Stewart County Sheriff Larry Jones confirmed Gonzalez had been placed in the restricted housing unit following an altercation with a CoreCivic staff member within the past week.

This is a developing story