Family of ‘perfectly healthy’ asylum-seeker who died in ICE custody demand answers: ‘His story cannot end here’
Exclusive details: Jean Wilson Brutus’s relatives only learned he had even been taken into ICE custody was when they received notification of his death, family attorney Oliver Barry told The Independent
The family of a Haitian asylum seeker who died mysteriously last month while in ICE detention is demanding to know what happened to the “remarkably healthy” 41-year-old.
New Jersey resident Jean Wilson Brutus – known to friends as Wilson – was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on December 11 and taken to Delaney Hall, a troubled facility in Newark operated by the GEO Group, the nation’s largest private prison company.
Within 24 hours of his arrival, Brutus “experienced a medical emergency,” according to a news release ICE issued at the time under the headline, “Criminal illegal alien passes away at University Hospital following medical emergency at Delaney Hall Detention Facility.” He was taken by ambulance to a hospital, and pronounced dead the following day, the agency said.
ICE attributed Brutus’s death to “natural causes,” but provided no further details, other than the fact that Brutus “had no signs of distress during intake nor a medical history of cardiovascular issues.”
In a statement provided Tuesday to The Independent, Brutus’s cousin Evans Belony said, “Before Wilson became a shocking headline, tied without a factual basis to investigations and unanswered questions, he was known by all as a kind and gentle soul who was always there when someone needed help. Wilson left Haiti for America because he was living in fear, in a war zone. He came in search of safety, stability, and the American Dream, believing that hard work, decency, and compassion still mattered.”
Brutus’s loved ones remain “overcome with grief,” according to Belony, who said they are “committed to finding out what happened to him, not just for our family but for everyone in our country living in fear of masked federal agents coming to take them or their loved ones away from their homes and families.”
The relatives have now retained civil rights attorneys Oliver Barry and Joseph Champagne Jr., the former mayor of Toms River, New Jersey, to investigate Brutus’s death.
In a phone interview in Tuesday, Barry told The Independent that the family only learned that Brutus had even been taken into ICE custody “was when they received notification of his death. And that’s quite a call to get.”
Brutus fled Haiti to escape political and gang violence, having endured “horrific” conditions there, Barry continued.
“This is a man who was in the midst of asylum proceedings, in search of a better life,” he said.
Brutus was the first detainee to die at Delaney Hall since it reopened last year under a $1 billion, 15-year contract with the GEO Group. The 1,000-bed immigration jail singlehandedly multiplied ICE’s detention capacity in New Jersey four times over, according to the ACLU. Detainees have since complained of inedible food, undrinkable water and say that they have been forced to go without toothpaste, toilet paper or appropriate winter clothing.
Reached for comment on Tuesday, GEO Group spokesman Christopher Ferreira referred The Independent to ICE, which did not respond to inquiries.
The family hired Barry and Champagne Jr. specifically because they have been kept in the dark by federal authorities, and want to know what happened to Brutus. The absence of any information from ICE or the GEO Group has only served to intensify the grief Brutus’s family is experiencing, according to Barry.
“What they do know is that a perfectly healthy 41-year-old does not enter a safe, properly and professionally run detention facility and within less than a day is in a body bag,” Barry said in the statement released Tuesday.
Brutus, according to ICE, entered the United States without legal permission on June 20, 2023, at the Hidalgo Port of Entry in Hidalgo, Texas. He was then released, pending immigration proceedings, ICE said in the announcement reporting Brutus’s death. Aside from calling Brutus a “criminal illegal alien” in its press release, ICE laid out Brutus’s previous record, consisting of a handful of minor arrests for criminal trespassing and criminal mischief.
The United States presently holds more than 65,000 people in civil immigration detention, more than any other nation in the world. At least 31 people died in ICE custody in 2025, nearly three times the number in 2024, making it the deadliest year for the deportation agency in more than two decades. At least six people have died in ICE detention during the first month of 2026, along with two civilians, both U.S. citizens, who were shot dead by immigration authorities in Minneapolis.
“ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments,” according to the ICE news release following Brutus’s passing. “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.”
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat, was arrested last May while trying to conduct an official oversight visit at Delaney Hall; the charges have since been dropped. Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat, was arrested the same day for allegedly impeding two agents during Baraka’s arrest; those charges remain pending.
McIver demanded accountability by ICE in the wake of Brutus’s death, saying the Trump administration had “shown a complete disregard for human rights, human dignity, and human life.”
Sen. Cory Booker, also a Democrat from New Jersey, said he was “deeply concerned” about the news and condemned what he deemed inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall.
Barry told The Independent that he and Champagne are now in the process of gathering information, and are awaiting the results of an independent autopsy. They have also submitted numerous public records requests, have sent evidence preservation letters to everyone involved and are continuing to identify potential witnesses. Soon, Barry expects to have “a little more clarity” on how Brutus died.
A GoFundMe campaign Belony launched 10 days ago to cover Brutus’s funeral, memorial and burial expenses, has so far raised a little more than $13,000 of its $50,000 goal. Brutus was not wealthy, but he was “rich in heart,” the verified fundraiser tells potential donors, recalling a man “known for always helping with his hands and expecting nothing in return.”
In his statement on Tuesday, Belony described the family as “overcome with grief” about losing Brutus.
“His story cannot end here,” Belony said. “His life mattered. And we are committed to finding out what happened to him, not just for our family but for everyone in our country living in fear of masked federal agents coming to take them or their loved ones away from their homes and families.”
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