More than a week after an migrant’s death at an El Paso immigration detention center was ruled a homicide by a medical examiner, it’s unclear whether that autopsy will lead to criminal charges or prosecution.

Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban, died earlier this month at Camp East Montana, a massive tent facility at the Fort Bliss Army base that immigrant rights organizations have condemned for having “inhumane conditions.”

Lunas Campos’ autopsy, released by the El Paso Medical Examiner last Wednesday, says he died from asphyxia “due to neck and torso compression,” meaning there was so much pressure on his neck and chest that he couldn’t breathe.

Before Lunas Campos’ autopsy was released, Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a Jan. 9 press release said he died after “experiencing medical distress,” then later said he attempted suicide.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, told The Texas Tribune on Wednesday that “Campos violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life. During the ensuing struggle, Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness.”

Homicides are usually prosecuted at the state level, but because the camp is on a military base, El Paso District Attorney James Montoya said it’s unclear whether he can prosecute.

“Such land is generally within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government, subject to the specific terms of the deed of cession by which the land was acquired,” Montoya said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. “Our Office is continuing to research the matter of jurisdiction.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in El Paso, which has jurisdiction over federal cases, declined to comment on whether it plans to pursue prosecution.

Jenny Carroll, a law professor at Texas A&M University School of Law who specializes in criminal law, said Montoya doesn’t have to defer to federal prosecutors in this case.

“If they want to prosecute, they prosecute,” Carroll said of local district attorneys. “And they work out in court whether or not the federal government actually has sole jurisdiction over the event.

“The feds can certainly make a choice to prosecute the case, but they can’t claim exclusive jurisdiction when Texas does have these distinct interests that it’s trying to protect,” she added. “And the citizens of Texas have an expectation that those interests and rights will be protected.”

She added that deciding whether a case falls under state or federal jurisdiction after a prosecutor takes it to court has been done before. “Texas would not be the first state to do this,” she said.

Andrew Free, an Atlanta-based lawyer and investigative journalist specializing in ICE custody deaths, agreed: “I’m aware of and have seen records for a number of instances across the country where local prosecutors have investigated, charged, and convicted ICE contractors of crimes at federal facilities,” he said.

Questions about whether the homicide ruling will become a criminal case are unfolding as the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement strategy has exploded into controversy following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by immigration agents in Minnesota.

Carroll, who has 11 years of experience as a public defender, said a week ago, she would not have been surprised if the federal government dragged its feet on investigating what happened to Lunas Campos.

“However, we’re seeing a little bit of a shift,” she said. “We’re seeing Donald Trump walking back a bit on some of the rhetoric around the two deaths in Minnesota.”

After the second deadly shooting in Minneapolis last week, President Donald Trump this week signaled interest in easing tensions. After recent conversations with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — two Democrats who have publicly criticized ICE operations in their state — Trump said “lots of progress is being made.”

The politics around those shootings could impact the federal government’s decisions on how to address Lunas Campos’ autopsy, Carroll said.

“My general sense is we are in a new era of how the federal government treats its authority over immigration and what it designates as permissible versus impermissible,” she said.

Because Lunas Campos died in an immigration detention center, most of the witnesses are detainees who could be deported, so any prosecution would need to happen quickly, Carroll said.

“They may literally leave the United States and no longer be under subpoena power,” she said.

Homeland Security attorney Darryl Vereen and the attorney representing Lunas Campos’ family, Christopher Benoit, recently agreed to a preliminary injunction protecting six migrants who witnessed his death from being deported until they can give depositions, according to the El Paso Times. 

A group of migrants told the Associated Press that they saw Lunas Campos tackled by guards and placed in a chokehold until he lost consciousness. 

Santos Jesús Flores, a detainee at Camp East Montana who said he witnessed the incident through the window of his cell, said Lunas Campos was handcuffed when guards pinned him to the floor, according to the AP.

“After he stopped breathing, they removed the handcuffs,” Flores said.

Lunas Campos was the third person to die during Camp East Montana’s first six months of operation, in what became one of the most deadly years in immigration detention facilities in Texas: At least eight migrants died in ICE custody in the state last year.

Lomi Kriel contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University School of Law have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

 Learn about The Texas Tribune’s policies, including our partnership with The Trust Project to increase transparency in news.