NEW YORK — Friends and family gathered held funeral services over the weekend in New York for a young Panamanian girl who died in U.S. Border Patrol custody in Texas last month.
Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, 8, became unresponsive while at a Border Patrol station in Harlingen. She later died at the hospital after complaining of vomiting and stomach pains earlier in the day.
A medical examiner's report said she died from a heart problem.
Anadith died on her ninth day in custody when the most time allowed under agency policy is 72 hours. Her family told agents Anadith had a history of heart problems and sickle cell anemia, but her mom said agents repeatedly ignored pleas to take her to the hospital.
“They killed my daughter, because she was nearly a day and a half without being able to breathe," the mother said. "She cried and begged for her life and they ignored her. They didn’t do anything for her."
The girl’s mother, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, hugged almost every guest at the funeral home, thanking them for coming to honor their daughter. She grabbed a handful of tissues to wipe her eyes and nose.
“We are laying our baby to rest and may she rest in peace," the Alvarez family said in a statement. “We want justice for her, and we do not want this to ever happen again. We will fight for justice.”
Authorities said Dr. David Tarantino, the chief medical officer for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, was reassigned after Anadith's death.