A Honduran man who entered the US illegally killed himself in a Texas jail despite guards checking on him every half-hour and the presence of a camera in his padded cell, a sheriff’s report showed.

The Starr county sheriff’s office said in a report on the incident, which happened in May, that Marco Antonio Muñoz, 39, became combative during the booking process and was restrained and placed in a padded cell overnight.

Like a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) news release on the case on Saturday, the sheriff’s report made no mention of why Muñoz might have become enraged and then despondent. It said he did not show any mental health problems or say anything that might have suggested he was thinking about killing himself.



But the Washington Post cited unnamed border agents with detailed knowledge of what occurred when it reported that Muñoz entered the country with his wife and their three-year-old son.



He became enraged and had to be restrained when agents said the family would be separated, the paper said.

Under a “zero tolerance” Trump administration policy announced by the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in May, families suspected of crossing the border illegally are separated. The policy has prompted widespread criticism and opposition.



The Starr county sheriff’s report said officers checked on Muñoz every 30 minutes and at least once more during the morning shift before he was found unresponsive on the morning of 13 May, a day after border patrol agents brought him to the jail.



It said video footage showed Muñoz used a sweater to strangle himself.

The report did not say what time that occurred. Muñoz was declared dead around 10am, the report said.

The Starr county sheriff’s report was filed on 5 June to the Texas attorney general’s office and obtained by the Associated Press on Sunday.



The sheriff’s office and the Texas Rangers, who are investigating the death, did not immediately comment. CBP declined further comment.

In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.



