Bronx family mourning loss of 8-year-old Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, who died in Border Patrol custody in Texas
NEW YORK -- Tragedy struck for a family from Honduras, hoping for a better life in the Bronx, when their 8-year-old daughter died in United States Border Patrol custody in Texas.
Loved ones who gathered to remember the little girl Friday say she was denied proper medical care and her death could have been prevented.
It was a somber and intimate gathering for Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez in the South Bronx, surrounded with the things little girls love -- Minnie Mouse balloons and flowers. It's there where she had hoped to live with her family, but the 8-year-old's dream of freedom in the U.S. was cut short.
"She literally died in her mother's arm," said Guerline Jozef, with the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for fair immigration policies.
- Read more: Nurse denied ambulance requests before migrant child died in U.S. custody, officials find
Friday night, her heartbroken mom sat just a few feet away from her daughter's casket, trying to cope with this immense loss but even moreso why it happened.
"She actually begged, begged to please take of my baby and they refused," Jozef said.
Alvarez, who had a heart condition and sickle cell anemia, passed away in U.S. Border Patrol custody on May 17 in Texas. Her parents claim their pleas for help were ignored. Her heartbroken father claiming, "They killed my daughter."
A Customs and Border Protection report says the girl was seen nine separate times between May 14 and the early hours of May 17. During those visits, Alvarez complained of pain, fever and flu symptoms. Officials say she was given Tamiflu, ice packs and ibuprofen.
"Her mother came and told the officials and the doctors ... that she wasn't feeling well," Jozef said.
- Read more: Migrant mother requested aid three times the day her 8-year-old daughter died in U.S. border custody
The medical examiner's office related the girl's death to heart disease, but her family believes more should have been done.
Jozef says the Haitian Bridge Alliance is alongside the family and ready for the fight.
"Pushing for different policies that will allow people to be welcomed with dignity," she said.
Alvarez and her family were detained in the Border Patrol facility for more than week despite the rule that migrant families should not be held for more than three days. Why did this happen? That is also being looked into.