Guatemalan boy died from influenza

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — New Mexico authorities say an autopsy performed on the 8-year-old Guatemalan boy who died in U.S. custody shows he had the flu.

The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator says in a statement late Thursday that more tests need to be done before a cause of death can be determined for Felipe Gomez Alonzo.

Authorities say Felipe Gomez Alonzo died at a New Mexico hospital after suffering coughing, vomiting and a fever. Another Guatemalan child, 7-year-old Jakelin Caal, died in U.S. custody on Dec. 8. Both deaths are under investigation.

The father of an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy who died in U.S. custody took his son to the border after hearing rumors that parents and their children would be allowed to migrate to United States.

That’s according to the boy’s stepsister, who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday, two days after the boy’s death.

Authorities say Felipe Gomez Alonzo died at a New Mexico hospital after suffering coughing, vomiting and fever. Another Guatemalan child, 7-year-old Jakelin Caal, died in U.S. custody on Dec. 8. Both deaths are under investigation.

Catarina Gomez Lucas, the boy’s 21-yearold stepsister, would not say who spread the rumors or who transported the father and son to the border. They came from a poor community of people who fled Guatemala during that country’s civil war.

The states that experienced the highest number of officer fatalities were Texas, California, Florida and New York, with 11 fatalities each.