A medical examiner has ruled the death of a Haitian asylum seeker after being released from federal custody a homicide. An attorney representing her family said he expects her relatives to sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement in connection with her death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daphy Michel, 31, died March 2. She was found at a bus shelter in Pittsburgh. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office found her cause of death to be hypothermia and ruled the manner a homicide, \u201cindicating the death was caused by the actions of another individual\u201d and should not be interpreted as a declaration of criminal guilt, the office said in a statement. The office released its findings Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michel was a native of Haiti who was seeking asylum in the U.S. after arriving at the southern border in 2022, said Joseph Patrick Murphy, her family\u2019s attorney. She was granted humanitarian parole based on urgent humanitarian need, but she did not live to see a hearing scheduled for two weeks after she died, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The medical examiner\u2019s office said Michel was a vulnerable adult \u201csuffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier\u201d at the time of her release on Feb. 27, the office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was arrested last summer for yelling at imaginary people due to her psychiatric challenges, Murphy said. She spent six months in Washington County Jail, where she underwent multiple psychiatric examinations as she awaited her first hearing, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A magistrate said he could not hold her for trial for threatening imaginary people, Murphy said. Afterward, ICE arrested her in her cell, put an ankle monitor on her and took her 25 miles (40 kilometers) away to Pittsburgh, where she sat at a bus shelter for days in winter, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe was in September clothes and it was February, and the weather overwhelmed her and she went into hypothermia,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The medical examiner\u2019s finding of homicide is different from a criminal charge, meaning \u201csomebody did or failed to do something that brought about her demise,\u201d Murphy said. He said he expects Michel\u2019s family to file a lawsuit against ICE in connection with her death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an email, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis said, \u201cICE had NOTHING to do with this woman\u2019s death. She passed away THREE days after ICE encountered her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She called Michel \u201can illegal alien from Haiti\u201d who was placed in removal proceedings after her arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michel had all her belongings and a fully charged phone when she was released, with public transportation available, Bis said. ICE learned the day after Michel died that her ankle monitor \u201chad been tampered with,\u201d but county medical examiner staff \u201crefused to cooperate or even talk with\u201d ICE officials, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ICE called the U.S. Marshals Service, who retrieved the ankle monitor but were refused information about Michel\u2019s condition, Bis said. ICE learned of her death via news media, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato called Michel\u2019s death \u201ca tragedy and appears that with a little humanity, it could have been completely avoidable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said her death was preventable and that \u201cshe deserved care, shelter, language access, and medical support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ICE is no longer reporting the deaths of detainees within 30 days of their release from custody, ending a 2021 Biden-era policy. Health experts say the change will reflect fewer deaths than actually occur without addressing issues in medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n