U.S. Customs and Border Protection this week released information on separate deadly incidents that occurred near Lukeville.
In February, a pregnant woman lost her newborn after being among a dozen migrants apprehended by border patrol agents, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection in a news release on Tuesday.
The woman from the African country of Angola tried to communicate with authorities who were unable to understand her, initially believing that she was speaking French. About an hour later, when the group was transferred to the Ajo station, a nurse practitioner conducting a routine booking exam for apprehended migrants noted the woman, who complained of abdominal pains and cramps, was about 8 months pregnant.
About two hours after that the woman arrived by ambulance at a hospital in Goodyear and underwent an emergency cesarean section after doctors found a defect in the fetusβ heartbeat, the release said.
After birth the newbornβs heart rate continued to decrease and later died.
An investigation continues.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident in March a man died after jumping from a moving car.
On the evening of March 6, a Border Patrol agent monitoring a remote video surveillance system, reported possible human smuggling at a gas station in Lukeville. The operator reported seeing a man and woman get into a Nissan Altima and another agent then saw the vehicle headed north on State Route 85, an agency release said.
Eventually two agents were following the car when a man and woman jumped out of the vehicle as it traveled about 45 mph.
The woman suffered minors injures. The man however, was bleeding from his face, struggling to breathe and was unconscious, the release said. He died later at a Phoenix hospital, the release said.
Two people who stayed in the Altima were arrested.
An investigation is ongoing.
