Before he vanished, 46-year-old Parady La had asked a cousin if she needed anything from the grocery store. But a few hours later, his car was found abandoned on the side of the road. By the end of the week, the Upper Darby man was dead after collapsing in a federal detention cell while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
His family and friends have now gathered in Upper Darby to remember La. They are mourning a man they describe as stylish and devoted, as they demand answers from ICE as it insists it followed protocol.
“He was like a father figure to me,” his nephew Michael La told WHYY.
They had spent summers in Philadelphia, where La used to press ice cream money into kids’ hands when the Mister Softee truck rolled by. Michael explained that Parady La had even driven two hours to pick him up while he helped his family after a divorce.
Death of Cambodian American in ICE Custody Triggers Outrage, Allegations of Neglect
Phnom Penh / Philadelphia — The death of a 46-year-old Cambodian American man while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody has sparked widespread anger, with family members and… pic.twitter.com/PuCnM7TCY6
— PsychxnauT 👽 (@P3ychxnauT) January 15, 2026
According to his family, La was detained by ICE on January 6, 2026, after agents pulled him over and asked for his ID. Relatives had been searching for him for hours before they learned he was in custody. Two days later, Michael got a call telling him his uncle was in the hospital and was brain-dead.
ICE, however, says that La was being held at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia and was being treated for drug withdrawal. Officers found him unresponsive in his cell on January 7, so they administered CPR and multiple doses of naloxone (specifically Narcan) before rushing him to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
He was pronounced dead the morning of January 9.
For his family, that explanation is questionable. They say La told officers he was going through fentanyl withdrawal and kept requesting care after vomiting. So, it is raising questions about why naloxone was administered if withdrawal was the issue. “As we keep fighting for information, we’re finding that there are levels of information that just become locked,” Michael said.
The family has also set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs and to support La’s 23-year-old daughter, Jazmine. The donations will also fund legal action against ICE and the Philadelphia detention facility where the man died.
Just heard about this man Paraday La who died in ICE custody because they refused to get him medical treatment when he was going through withdrawal. It’s so sad. And he probably isn’t the first this has happened to.
— Scaredy Cat (@hello_jaime) January 14, 2026
Advocacy groups like the Shut Down Detention Campaign called La’s death “completely preventable” as they spoke of the medical neglect and delayed care. ICE maintains that medical care is provided to all detainees and that emergency care is never denied, either. La is the fourth person to die in custody at a Pennsylvania detention center since December 2023.
Nationwide, 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025.
La was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and came to Philadelphia at age two after his family fled the Cambodian genocide. ICE describes him as a “criminal illegal alien,” and notes that his misdemeanor convictions and the loss of his legal status were why they targeted him. His family acknowledges his habits and that they worsened after the 2005 murder of his younger brother.
“He was an American,” Michael said. “And he was failed.”
