In a press statement on Monday, December 23, 2019, ICE said Akinyemi died at the Worcester County Jail in Snow Hill, Maryland, on Saturday, December 21.

The preliminary cause of death, according to the agency, appears to be self-inflicted strangulation.

"Anthony Oluseye Akinyemi, 56, was pronounced dead at 5:23 a.m. local time December 21, 2019, after he was found unresponsive in his cell and efforts by facility staff and emergency personnel to revive him were unsuccessful," the agency noted.

The circumstances of his death remain under investigation to be conducted by ICE senior leadership to include Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

"ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases," ICE announced.

Akinyemi had entered ICE custody on Friday, December 20 after he was convicted in Baltimore City Circuit Court for sexual assault of a minor.

The deceased was reported by ICE to have lawfully entered the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa in December 2017, but subsequently failed to comply with the terms of his admission. 

Before his death, Akinyemi was in removal proceedings before U.S. immigration courts.