Pennsylvania medical examiner rules haitian asylum seeker's death a homicide

A medical examiner in Pennsylvania has determined the death of a 31-year-old Haitian asylum seeker, Daphy Michel, to be a homicide. Michel passed away on March 2 at a bus shelter in Pittsburgh due to hypothermia, with the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office ruling the manner of death as a homicide.

Details of michel's tragic circumstances

Michel, a native of Haiti, had arrived at the southern U.S. border in 2022 and was seeking asylum. She was granted humanitarian parole due to urgent humanitarian need but never had her scheduled court hearing, which was two weeks after her death.

At the time of her release from federal custody on February 27, Michel was classified as a vulnerable adult with untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier. She had been arrested the previous summer for yelling at imaginary people due to her psychiatric challenges and spent six months in Washington County jail awaiting her first hearing.

ICE arrested Michel in her cell, outfitted her with an ankle monitor, and transported her 25 miles to Pittsburgh, where she sat at a bus shelter in subfreezing February weather wearing only September clothes. Her ankle monitor was later found to have been tampered with, but county medical examiner staff refused to cooperate with ICE officials.

Michel's attorney, Joseph Patrick Murphy, expects the asylum seeker's relatives to sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in connection with her death. In a statement, ICE spokesperson Lauren Bis denied any involvement, claiming Michel had been released three days prior to her death and that ICE learned of her demise through the media.

Reactions from local officials

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato called Michel's death