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Miami County Coroner John Boyer has ruled the death of an ICE detainee at Miami Correctional Facility in north-central Indiana to be natural.
A certified forensic pathologist conducted an autopsy the day after Lorth Sim’s Feb. 16 death and found his cause of death to be “atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with other significant conditions of diabetes mellitus.”
The condition involves plaque buildup in arterial walls, according to the American Heart Association.
U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement has ignored requests for more information on the investigation into Sim’s death.
An ICE news release in February said staff found Sim unresponsive in his cell. He was pronounced dead at 7:10 a.m., despite lifesaving efforts by facility staff and emergency medical services.
Miami Correctional Facility started holding ICE detainees in October, under a two-year agreement with the federal government. Up to 1,000 beds are available to hold detainees at a payment of $294 a day to the state.
According to the ICE release, Sim was arrested for disorderly conduct in 1989, indecent exposure in 1996, and larceny in 2005, receiving a suspended sentence and probation but no prison time. In 2006, ICE arrested him and an immigration judge ordered his removal to Cambodia.
On Dec. 30 last year, ICE officers encountered Sim at an agency office lobby in Boston and informed him he was under arrest and would be detained in ICE custody pursuant to a warrant of removal. On Jan. 5, ICE Boston transferred him to ICE Chicago custody.
Sim entered the United States as a refugee in 1983 and became a lawful permanent resident in 1986.
At the time of death, Sim was the 7th immigrant to die in ICE custody this year, according to immigration analyst Austin Kocher. Since then, the toll has risen to 11 in 2026.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: [email protected].
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