A medical examiner has ruled the death of a Haitian asylum seeker after her release from federal custody a homicide. An attorney representing her family stated he anticipates relatives will sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in connection with her death.
Details of the Incident
Daphy Michel, 31, died on March 2. She was discovered at a bus shelter. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office determined her cause of death as hypothermia and classified the manner as homicide, “indicating the death was caused by the actions of another individual.” The office clarified this should not be interpreted as a declaration of criminal guilt. The findings were released on Friday.
Michel, a native of Haiti, was seeking asylum in the U.S. after arriving at the southern border in 2022, according to Joseph Patrick Murphy, the family's attorney. She had been granted humanitarian parole based on urgent humanitarian need but did not survive to attend a hearing scheduled for two weeks after her death.
Medical Examiner's Findings
The medical examiner's office noted that Michel was a vulnerable adult “suffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier” at the time of her release on Feb. 27.
Murphy reported that Michel was arrested last summer for yelling at imaginary people due to her psychiatric challenges. She spent six months in Washington County Jail, where she underwent multiple psychiatric examinations while awaiting her first hearing.
A magistrate determined he could not hold her for trial for threatening imaginary people, Murphy said. Following this, ICE arrested her in her cell, placed an ankle monitor on her, and transported her 25 miles (40 kilometers) to Pittsburgh, where she remained at a bus shelter for days in winter weather.
“She was in September clothes and it was February, and the weather overwhelmed her and she went into hypothermia,” Murphy stated.
Legal Implications
The medical examiner's homicide finding differs from a criminal charge, meaning “somebody did or failed to do something that brought about her demise,” Murphy explained. He expects Michel's family to file a lawsuit against ICE regarding her death.
In an email, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis asserted, “ICE had NOTHING to do with this woman's death. She passed away THREE days after ICE encountered her.” She referred to Michel as “an illegal alien from Haiti” who was placed in removal proceedings after her arrest.
Bis stated that Michel had all her belongings and a fully charged phone upon release, with public transportation available. ICE learned the day after Michel's death that her ankle monitor “had been tampered with,” but county medical examiner staff “refused to cooperate or even talk with” ICE officials.
ICE contacted the U.S. Marshals Service, which retrieved the ankle monitor but was denied information about Michel's condition, Bis said. ICE reportedly learned of her death through news media.
Reactions
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, D-Pa., described her death as preventable, stating that “she deserved care, shelter, language access, and medical support.”
ICE has ceased reporting deaths of detainees within 30 days of their release from custody, ending a 2021 Biden-era policy. Health experts indicate this change will reflect fewer deaths than actually occur without addressing issues in medical care.
