Yahoo News Mexican family receives $1m settlement after 16-year-old forced to drink liquid meth on border to prove his claim that it was apple juice
The family of a Mexican teenager who died after being told to drink from a bottle of liquid meth has been awarded $1 million in damages.
Cruz Marcelino Velazquez Acevedo, 16, arrived from Tijuana at the US border in November 2013, shaking with nerves and speaking quickly. He had no criminal record and is believed to have been paid around $150 to take the drug across the border.
When confronted by border police, he said the liquid was apple juice. They asked him to drink it to prove it was not harmful – and two hours later, screaming and convulsing, he died.
Eugene Iredale, lawyer for the Velazquez family, said the border officers acted recklessly.
“I don’t think they deliberately set out to kill the boy,” he 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.
“They have many test kits - they are readily available” at the port, said Mr Iredale, but those were not used.
In the lawsuit, the family alleges that the teenager began yelling "the chemicals" in Spanish and then, "Mi corazon! Mi corazon!", or "My heart! My heart!" He began to seize uncontrollably, according to the suit.
Valerie Baird and Adrian Parellon, the officers named in the complaint, continue to be employed by CBP in San Diego, the agency said in a statement, adding that they are continuously evaluating their procedures.
Mr Iredale cited testimony from another border officer, alleging that Ms 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.’”
Lawyers for both Ms Baird and Mr Parellon argued that they were protected by qualified immunity, which means reasonable officers should not be held liable unless their actions were obviously incompetent or that they knowingly violated the law.
Both the officers denied forcing or egging the teenager on to drink from the bottle – with each officer accusing the other of pressuring the young man.
The Mexican consulate in San Diego confirmed that a settlement had been reached.
“It’s never enough when you lose a human life,” said Marcela Celorio, the Mexican consul general in San Diego, who called it a “high visibility case” for the Mexican government.
“The family lost their son, and the father was very committed to finding justice.
“What’s important is that the family is at peace with the agreement that was reached.”
