US Citizen Dies In San Diego Border Patrol Station

By Jill Replogle
December 30, 2013

A U.S. citizen died at a U.S. Border Patrol holding station near San Diego during the Christmas holiday. Local and national authorities are investigating the man’s death.

UT San Diego identified the deceased man as 58-year-old Steven Keith. Border Patrol agents arrested the man at a checkpoint on Interstate 8 on Dec. 24.

A Border Patrol statement said he was in possession of some three pounds of marijuana and that trace amounts of methamphetamine were found in the man’s vehicle.

Later that evening, the man died in a holding cell at the nearby Campo Border Patrol station. Keith’s sister, Janet Keith, told UT San Diego that her brother had been in good health.

The Border Patrol has come under scrutiny lately for alleged poor conditions in temporary holding cells.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office and the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security are both investigating the death.