ICE facility in Louisiana reports its second detainee death in less than 2 months

Source: The Independent

Monday 08 June 2026 15:47 EDT


A second detainee has died in less than two months at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana where a recent inspection report found insanitary conditions, problems with medical care and the use of excessive force.

Mamuka Artmeladze, a 43-year-old from the country of Georgia, was found unresponsive June 4 at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, ICE announced in a press release Sunday. ICE said staff began lifesaving measures before he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead less than an hour later.

Additional circumstances surrounding the death were not available, and ICE said the cause of death is pending an autopsy. Artmeladze had been detained at the facility, managed by the Winn Parish Sheriff’s Office and ICE contractor LaSalle Corrections, for nearly four months.

The facility holds more than 1,500 male detainees, and like the majority of them, Artmeladze did not have a criminal record. Artmeladze entered the country illegally on an unknown date and the Border Patrol allowed him to temporarily remain in the country under ICE supervision after encountering him in September 2022, ICE said. He was arrested in Alabama in February after ICE determined he no longer had lawful status to remain in the U.S. He is the 19th detainee who has died in ICE custody since Jan. 1 and the second at Winn since April 11.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/louisiana-georgia-border-patrol-alabama-tennessee-b2992038.html