Honduran man in US custody kills himself after being separated from family at border: report

An immigrant from Honduras took his own life while in custody after both his wife and child were separated from him on the U.S-Mexico border.

According to a report in the Washington Post, 29-year old Marco Antonio Munoz killed himself in a Texas jail cell last month.

The Post notes the DHS did not publicly disclose the death and declined requests for comment on the incident.

Border patrol agents told the newspaper that after Munoz and his family crossed the border into Texas, they told agents they wanted to apply for asylum and were then separated. According to an agent Munoz, quote, "lost his s--t. They had to use physical force to take the child out of his hands."

Munoz was then labeled as "pre-assault" by Border patrol staff after he became agitated, forcing agents to relocate him to a padded isolation cell at a local jail. While guards checked in on him the following morning, observing him to be alive and praying, they found him unresponsive at 9:50 am, and according to the sheriff's report, he used a piece of clothing to take his life.

The death comes just weeks after President Trump announced a crack down on illegal border crossings by prosecuting more parents and separating them from their children at the border, which the administration says is a necessary measure to protect the border.