Haitian Asylum Seeker Found Dead in Bus Shelter Ruled Homicide by Hypothermia

Maintenance workers found Daphy Michel, 31, lying unresponsive on the ground in a bus shelter in Allegheny County on the morning of March 2. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide caused by hypothermia, stating that the manner of death indicated actions by another individual. Michel had been released from an ICE office in Pittsburgh on February 27.

She was a native of Haiti who arrived at the southern border in 2022 and received humanitarian parole, according to Joseph Patrick Murphy, the attorney representing her family. The medical examiner's office described Michel as a vulnerable adult with untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier at the time of her release.

She had been arrested the previous summer for yelling at imaginary people due to psychiatric challenges and spent six months in Washington County Jail undergoing multiple psychiatric examinations.

A magistrate determined he could not hold Michel for trial. After her release from the jail, ICE arrested her in her cell, placed an ankle monitor on her, and transported her 25 miles to Pittsburgh. Murphy said Michel was wearing September clothes when released in February.

"She was in September clothes and it was February, and the weather overwhelmed her and she went into hypothermia," Murphy said. Michel had a hearing scheduled for two weeks after her death. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis said ICE had nothing to do with Michel's death and that she passed away three days after ICE encountered her.

Bis stated Michel had all her belongings and a fully charged phone when released, with public transportation available. Bis said ICE learned the day after Michel died that her ankle monitor had been tampered with.