By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Maricopa County Medical Examiner released the autopsy report of the man who died in ICE custody earlier this year after an infection from dental problems spread.
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Emmanuel Damas, 56, died on March 2 at a Valley hospital, less than two weeks after he was airlifted out of Florence for a higher level of care.
In the days and weeks after his death, the family of Damas demanded answers about how Emmanuel died from a toothache.
The ME’s office said it reviewed records from CoreCivic, the private prison company that manages the detention facility in Florence, where ICE held Damas starting in October.
The report said that Damas was given an initial dental exam on Oct. 8, where medical staff found no swelling, but Damas did have multiple missing and/or loose teeth. The report says it was recommended that one tooth be extracted and Damas was placed on a wait list for that procedure.
Three months later, Damas was seen for that extraction on Jan. 8, but the report says at that point he said he was not in pain and refused to sign the extraction form.
On Feb. 12, Damas went back to the dentist for bleeding gums and teeth pain that had been ongoing “for the last couple of weeks.”
The report says that during that visit, the dentist recommended that two teeth be removed as he was dealing with heavy calculus formation with highly inflamed gums, but Damas refused.
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Six days later, Damas was taken back to the dentist after swelling in the face was reported by a unit manager. During that visit, the report says severe periodontal disease was again documented with several extractions recommended.
Damas reportedly refused the extractions and later that night continued to complain of pain, but when asked by the staff to go to the medical unit, he apparently refused and was given over-the-counter Tums.
The next day, Feb. 19, Damas was taken to a Valley hospital after experiencing shortness of breath. He died less than two weeks later from “complications of necrotizing mediastinitis with neck and retropharyngeal abscess in the setting of severe dental caries and periodontal disease.”
In a , ICE says that Damas received regular medical and dental evaluations.
Attorneys for Damas’s family said in a statement his death was a result of failures within the system.
“Emmanuel Damas died on March 2, 2026 solely because of the shocking failures of CoreCivic and ICE staff to provide him with timely, basic medical care while he was detained at Florence Correctional Center. The Medical Examiner’s Report confirms what Mr. Damas’s family has determined through its own investigation: that Mr. Damas died of sepsis as a result of a descending infection from his head and neck that started with him experiencing tooth pain. Mr. Damas begged prison staff for medical care on numerous occasions including the night before he was hospitalized, but he was ignored. Mr. Damas’s family remains committed to seeking justice and accountability for the loss of their father, brother, and son.”
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