A Haitian asylum seeker, tragically found deceased after her release from federal custody, has been declared a victim of homicide by the medical examiner. The family of Daphy Michel, represented by their attorney, is expected to pursue legal action against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in connection to her untimely death.
Michel, aged 31, passed away on March 2, discovered at a Pittsburgh bus shelter. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that hypothermia was the cause of her death, categorizing it as a homicide. This classification, as clarified in a statement from the office, highlights that her death was influenced by another’s actions, though it does not imply any criminal liability. The findings were disclosed publicly on Friday.
Joseph Patrick Murphy, the attorney for Michel’s family, revealed that she had sought asylum in the United States after arriving at the southern border in 2022. Granted humanitarian parole due to urgent needs, Michel, unfortunately, did not live to attend her asylum hearing, which was scheduled just two weeks after her death.
The medical examiner’s report described Michel as a vulnerable adult, grappling with severe untreated mental health issues and facing a significant language barrier, at the time of her release on February 27. These challenges were compounded by her past experiences.
Last summer, Michel was arrested for shouting at imagined voices, an incident linked to her psychiatric struggles, as explained by Murphy. She spent six months detained in Washington County Jail, where she underwent several psychiatric evaluations while awaiting her initial court appearance.
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.
“She was in September clothes and it was February, and the weather overwhelmed her and she went into hypothermia,” Murphy said.
The medical examiner’s finding of homicide is different from a criminal charge, meaning “somebody did or failed to do something that brought about her demise,” Murphy said. He said he expects Michel’s family to file a lawsuit against ICE in connection with her death.
In an email, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis said, “ICE had NOTHING to do with this woman’s death. She passed away THREE days after ICE encountered her.”
She called Michel “an illegal alien from Haiti” who was placed in removal proceedings after her arrest.
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 “had been tampered with,” but county medical examiner staff “refused to cooperate or even talk with” ICE officials, she said.
ICE called the U.S. Marshals Service, who retrieved the ankle monitor but were refused information about Michel’s condition, Bis said. ICE learned of her death via news media, she said.
In a statement, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato called Michel’s death “a tragedy and appears that with a little humanity, it could have been completely avoidable.”
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said her death was preventable and that “she deserved care, shelter, language access, and medical support.”
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.
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Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.