Canadian citizen Johnny Noviello died in ICE custody at the Federal Detention Center Miami last year. More than 30 people have died in ICE custody since January, 2025.Courtesy of family
Johnny Noviello, a Canadian man found dead in a Miami prison while detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year, died from a rare form of acute kidney failure that experts say should have been detected and should not have been fatal.
An autopsy of Mr. Noviello, 49, which was conducted by the Miami-Dade County medical examiner, determined the cause of death was kidney failure due to an extensive deposit of calcium oxalate crystals in the organ. The autopsy report was obtained by The Globe and Mail.
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Six kidney specialists reviewed the report for The Globe. They stressed that more information is required to make definitive conclusions, but four of them said the most likely cause of calcium oxalate crystals in this case is the ingestion of ethylene glycol, a key ingredient in chemical solutions such as antifreeze.
The other two experts pointed to the possibility that Mr. Noviello had an undiagnosed condition in his liver or digestive system that caused excess oxalate to accumulate, which could have been exacerbated by severe dehydration in detention.
But Mr. Noviello’s acute kidney failure, regardless of what caused it, would have prompted symptoms of illness in the hours or days prior to his death, the experts said – raising questions about how closely Mr. Noviello was monitored at the Federal Detention Center Miami. The autopsy results took seven months to be released, far longer than the initial time frame provided by the medical examiner’s office after Mr. Noviello’s death, which is now subject to an FBI probe.
“Kidney failure doesn’t cause you to die instantaneously,” said Dr. Serge Lemay, an associate professor with McGill University’s Department of Medicine whose research focuses on acute kidney injuries. “He must have been sick before he died for at least some days.”
Angelo Noviello holds a picture of his son, Johnny, who moved to Florida as a child and was a U.S. permanent resident.Michelle Bruzzese/The Globe and Mail
Dr. Lemay and the other experts stressed that even severe kidney failure is treatable through dialysis.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered an unprecedented immigration crackdown that has focused heavily on detention: more than 70,000 people are currently being held by ICE.
ICE is under intense scrutiny in the wake of a massive immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, in which two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents.
More than 30 people have died in ICE custody since January, 2025. An ICE spokesperson said in an e-mail the agency takes fatalities seriously and is “committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments.”
Neither ICE nor the Bureau of Prisons, which runs the FDC Miami, responded to The Globe’s questions about the degree to which Mr. Noviello was monitored while in detention nor about the cause of death.
Mr. Noviello’s autopsy and histology reports do not suggest he had a severe chronic kidney condition before his detention because no significant scarring was detected in the organs, the nephrologists who reviewed the documentation said.
The autopsy’s finding of idiopathic calcium oxalate nephropathy is rare and often brought on because of something the patient consumed, the experts said.
A toxicology report did not detect any ethylene glycol in Mr. Noviello’s system. However, experts said this does not rule out a chemical solution because the ethylene glycol may not have been detectable due to how it is metabolized in the body. It is possible for a person to ingest such solutions several days before going into kidney failure.
Symptoms of kidney failure include shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, confusion, loss of appetite and falling into a coma.
Ottawa nephrologist Manish Sood and three other kidney specialists said the evidence points to Mr. Noviello ingesting a substance that his body converted to oxalate. The autopsy report “is most consistent and highly probable with ingestion,” he said.
Observers film ICE agents as they hold a perimeter on Penn Avenue in Minneapolis on Thursday.Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Another Ottawa nephrologist, Dr. Swapnil Hiremath, agreed with that assessment. He explained that in addition to ethylene glycol, other substances that can lead to calcium oxalate nephropathy include Vitamin C, black tea and cashews, but these would have to be consumed in enormous quantities.
The Globe spoke with two other experts who also said they favour the ingestion theory. The Globe is not identifying one of them by name because they were not authorized by their institution to speak publicly on the matter. The Globe is not naming the other expert because they said they are concerned that speaking publicly about this case could impact their travel to the United States.
Regardless of the cause, Dr. Hiremath emphasized that kidney failure is a detectable, treatable problem. “No one should die of kidney failure in this day and age,” he said.
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Dr. Lemay agreed that if Mr. Noviello had normal kidney functioning when he was first detained, it would have required a catastrophic event for him to have died the way he did, such as the consumption of ethylene glycol.
But it is also possible, he said, that Mr. Noviello had an undiagnosed condition where the body produces too much oxalate, or cannot absorb it properly. Failure to provide treatment combined with severe dehydration may have caused a sudden accumulation of calcium oxalate crystals in the kidney, he said.
A sixth nephrologist, who The Globe agreed not to name because he was also not authorized by his institution to speak publicly on the matter, said he favoured a similar theory, adding that Mr. Noviello’s condition may have been exacerbated by the medication he was taking to treat his epilepsy and hypertension.
Calcium oxalate deposits in the kidney can also be associated with gastric bypass surgery. Mr. Noviello’s brother, Angelo Jr., said he was not aware of his brother having such a procedure.
A mortality review, conducted by ICE and obtained by The Globe under freedom of information laws, says Mr. Noviello was found on June 23 “slumped over, sitting on the floor, pulseless, breathless, and unresponsive with fixed pupils.”
The federal detention center in Miami.Wilfredo Lee/The Associated Press
A separate incident report from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue department says Mr. Noviello showed reddish discoloration around his ankles, hip and wrists. Two forensic pathologists told The Globe this suggests Mr. Noviello had been dead for a period of time before being found.
The ICE mortality review says lab work was done for Mr. Noviello twice during his five-week detention. The review does not describe what was tested or the results. The last lab work took place two weeks before Mr. Noviello died, at which time he displayed normal vitals.
The lab work, the experts said, could provide important information about whether Mr. Noviello did, in fact, have an underlying condition – but the results of those analyses are not included in the autopsy report.
FDC Miami staff requested a mental-health referral for Mr. Noviello at that time, documenting that he felt “sad and depressed” and had not eaten in “a while.” The review doesn’t say whether he ever saw a mental-health provider.
The review says Mr. Noviello twice refused a medical evaluation while in detention. Some details of the care he received were redacted by ICE, citing a law-enforcement exemption.
Mr. Noviello’s family says he was prepared to leave the U.S. and that there was no reason for him to be detained. In total, he spent 40 days in detention while his family waited for him to return to Quebec. Mr. Noviello’s brother said now that there’s a death certificate, the family can set about shipping the remains back to Montreal.
ICE said in an e-mail that Mr. Noviello was in custody because he posed a “clear public safety threat.”
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Mr. Noviello moved to Florida as a child and was a U.S. permanent resident. In 2023, he was convicted of several drug-trafficking charges, making him vulnerable to deportation as a non-U.S. citizen. He was arrested by immigration authorities last May at a probation office.
Court records show that over the past several years, there have been at least two suicides at FDC Miami, as well as complaints about its treatment of medically vulnerable inmates.
On June 25, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General received a complaint related to Mr. Noviello’s death, records obtained through American freedom of information laws show. The nature of the complaint is redacted.
A review of 52 deaths in ICE custody by independent medical experts for a 2024 study found that 95 per cent of cases could have been prevented if the detainees had received appropriate medical care.
“Medical and mental health care in immigration detention facilities was failing people – especially the most medically vulnerable – even before the Trump administration,” said Eunice Cho, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union and one of the report’s authors.
“Under this administration, things have gotten markedly worse.”