A Haitian woman seeking asylum in the United States dies of hypothermia days after being released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a county medical examiner rules the death a homicide. Multiple reports say the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office finds her cause of death to be hypothermia and categorises the manner of death as a homicide, a classification indicating the death was caused by the actions of another individual rather than natural causes. The woman, identified in one report as Daphy Michel, 31, is reported to have been found at a bus shelter in Pittsburgh. She died on March 2.
An attorney representing her family says the family expects to pursue legal action and could sue ICE in connection with her death. The reports focus on the medical examiner’s determination and on the family’s stated intention to seek accountability, while not describing the underlying circumstances that led to the hypothermia beyond her recent release from federal custody.
