Haitian Asylum Seeker’s Death Ruled Homicide

(WPXI) – 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.  Daphy Michel, 31, died March 2. She was found at a bus shelter in Pittsburgh. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office found her cause of death to be hypothermia and ruled the manner a homicide, “indicating the death was caused by the actions of another individual” and should not be interpreted as a declaration of criminal guilt, the office said in a statement. The office released its findings Friday.  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’s 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.  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.”