Compensation of one million dollars to the family of a Mexican who died on American soil

The family of 16-year-old Mexican Cruz Velazquez Acevedo, who died after drinking liquid methamphetamine while in custody by the American authorities, was awarded one million compensation by the American courts.

Authorities stopped the 16-year-old at the US border while he was trying to enter Mexico in 2013, with two containers with some liquid inside. He had claimed that the liquid was apple juice and the guards called him to prove it by taking a sip, according to the BBC.

The substance killed Velazquez within a few hours.

His family has filed a lawsuit against two border guards and the US government, alleging that the two men "forced and intimidated" the 16-year-old to drink the liquid, although they suspected it was a dangerous substance.

"I can not say for sure that they knew he was going to kill him," said the family lawyer, "but it is clear from the outset that they suspected it was methamphetamine." It was obviously a mistake to try the drug, he added, but "he was just a 16-year-old boy with all the immaturity and bad judgment that can characterize almost any child his age."

Velazquez had a clear criminal record and is believed to have fallen victim to drug traffickers who gave him a small amount to operate as a "steamer", smuggling drugs across the border.

Shortly after swallowing he started having convulsions and then he started shouting “my heart! My heart!"

He was taken to a clinic in the United States where he died shortly afterwards.

Four years later, the two opponents, the 16-year-old's family and the US authorities, reached a compromise and the child's relatives were paid $ XNUMX million in damages.

Source: newsbeast.gr