Family settles in teen’s border death

A $1-million deal ends a suit over two agents’ role in the fatality of a Tijuana youth who sipped liquid meth.

SAN DIEGO — The case of a Tijuana teenager who died screaming and going into convulsions after sipping liquid methamphetamine while in federal custody at the San Ysidro Port of Entry has been settled with a $1-million payment to his family members.

The agreement in federal court in San Diego came more than three years after Cruz Marcelino Velázquez Acevedo, 16, was referred for secondary inspection after crossing into the United States through the pedestrian lanes on Nov. 18, 2013.

He died in a hospital more than two hours later, after taking as many as four sips of the amber liquid that he carried in two juice bottles inside his knapsack. Claiming initially that it was apple juice that he had purchased in Mexico, Cruz drank the liquid in the presence of two U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, according to court documents.

The lawsuit alleged that “the two agents told a young man to drink the liquid to prove to them that it was fruit juice and not a drug,” said Eugene Iredale, attorney for the teen’s family. “He did that, and as a result, he died.”

Attorneys for the officers named in the complaint did not respond to queries about the lawsuit, which alleged wrongful death, assault and battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The settlement was reached in January.

Officers Valerie Baird and Adrian Parellon continue to be employed by CBP in San Diego, the agency said Friday.

“Although we are not able to speak about this specific case, training and the evaluation of CBP policies and procedures are consistently reviewed as needed,” the statement said.

Iredale and the Mexican Consulate in San Diego confirmed the monetary payment. Family members of the late teenager were reluctant to come forward and unavailable for comment, Iredale said.

“It’s never enough when you lose a human life,” said Marcela Celorio, the Mexican consul general in San Diego.

“The family lost their son, and the father was very committed to finding justice,” Celorio said. “What’s important is that the family is at peace … with the agreement that was reached.”

Cruz was a high school student in Tijuana who did not have a previous criminal record. Iredale said that “we believe he was paid some small amount of money, the going rate is $100 or $200, that they gave the kids to cross the border” with drugs.

Evidence in the case included sworn statements as well as CBP video footage that showed the teen communicating through hand signs with the two CBP officers in the secondary inspection area.

“I don’t think they deliberately set out to kill the boy,” Iredale said. “But they did, in telling him to drink it in order to prove to themselves — or have him prove to them — that it was in fact what he said it was as opposed to a drug, which is what they suspected.”

Iredale cited testimony from another CBP officer alleging that Baird had told her: “Oh my God, I told him to drink it, I asked him what it was, he said it was juice, I said, ‘Well then prove it.’ ”

Iredale said that it was only after the teenager had taken sips that Baird opted to test the liquid by putting drops on a screwdriver to see if they would crystallize — a test that is not sanctioned by CBP.

“They have many test kits … they are readily available” at the port, Iredale said, but those were not used.

Within minutes, Baird noticed that the teenager began to sweat and appear nervous, according to a court document.

She called for a canine officer and dog, which alerted to drugs on the teen’s body. Cruz was taken to a security office, where he admitted that “chemicals” were inside the bottles, the document said.

The medical examiner’s office report stated that Cruz died of “acute methamphetamine intoxication” and ruled the death an accident.