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FOUND UNRESPONSIVE AT A LOCAL BUS STOP. THE FAMILY OF 31 YEAR OLD DAPHNE MICHELLE, SAYS THEY ARE SADDENED TO HEAR THE ALLEGHENY COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER’S OFFICE RULED THEIR LOVED ONE’S DEATH A HOMICIDE, AND THEY SAY SHE DIED OF HYPOTHERMIA. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT SHE WAS FREEZING AND THAT SHE WAS COLD. FOR HER TO HAVE TO SUFFER IN THAT TYPE OF WAY IN A COUNTRY LIKE THIS. NO, IT’S NOT FAIR AND IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. MICHELLE’S COUSIN LINDA MICHELLE, SAYS AFTER THIS RULING, THEY HAVE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS FOR THE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AGENCY, AND THEY WANT JUSTICE. IT’S VERY HEARTBREAKING TO KNOW THAT MY FAMILY WAS ABLE TO COME TO AMERICA IN GOOD CIRCUMSTANCES AND HAVE NOT HAVING ANY LEGAL ISSUES AT THE TIME, AND WAS HAVING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ONLY FOR HER TO DIE IN SUCH A SENSELESS WAY. WHAT HAPPENED? WHY? WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE THAT WAY? MICHELLE’S LIFE ENDED ON MARCH 2ND AT A HOSPITAL AFTER SHE WAS FOUND LYING ON THE GROUND, UNRESPONSIVE AT A SOUTHSIDE BUS STOP. HER BROTHER LIVES IN CHARLEROI AND WAS SUPPOSED TO PICK MICHELLE UP FROM THE WASHINGTON COUNTY JAIL, WHERE SHE SPENT THE PAST SIX MONTHS BEHIND BARS ON MISDEMEANOR CHARGES THAT WERE EVENTUALLY DISMISSED. HE HAD NO IDEA AN ICE CONTAINER WOULD CAUSE THE HAITIAN IMMIGRANT TO BE RELEASED TO ICE. SHE WAS BOOKED AND ENROLLED IN THE ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION PROGRAM, RELEASED WITH AN ANKLE MONITOR AND EVENTUALLY FOUND AT THAT BUS STOP. THE FAMILY’S ATTORNEY SAYS MICHELLE SHOULD STILL BE ALIVE. YOU KNOW, WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER, WE’RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT LIFE BACK. AND IT MAY BE TIME TO SLOW DOWN ON THE GAS PEDAL OF ENFORCEMENT. HER FAMILY SAYS SHE SUFFERED FROM MENTAL HEALTH AND NEEDED HELP. THAT DOES NOT MAKE THAT PERSON LESS OF A PERSON. ICE WERE WAITING TO HEAR A RESPONSE FROM THEM. WE ALSO REACHED OUT TO THE ALLEGHENY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE ABO
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A woman’s hypothermia death after her release from ICE custody is ruled a homicide
The Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, medical examiner has ruled the death of Daphy Michel a homicide and determined hypothermia to be the cause after she was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and spent more than 30 hours at a bus stop in Pittsburgh in early March.“This is a 31-year-old woman, perfectly healthy,” said Joseph Murphy, the attorney representing Daphy Michel’s family. “When this is all over, we’re not going to be able to get that life back.”Daphy Michel was found lying unresponsive at a bus stop near the Smithfield Street Bridge on March 2 and was later declared dead at a hospital.“It’s important to remember that a medical examiner’s ruling of homicide is a decision that this death was caused by the acts or omissions of another person,” Murphy said.Three days before her death, Daphy Michel had been in the Washington County Jail, where she had spent the past six months facing misdemeanor charges. A judge dismissed those charges Feb. 27, and her brother was in Charleroi awaiting word that he could pick her up.However, Daphy Michel’s family was unaware that an ICE detainer had been placed on her file. After her release from jail, Daphy Michel was handed over to ICE, and she was booked into the Alternatives to Detention program. An ICE spokesperson told Hearst sister station WTAE in the days following Daphy Michel’s death that she was booked at the ICE ERO Office and released with an ankle monitor the same day.”I can only imagine that she was freezing and that she was cold,” said Daphy Michel’s cousin, Linda Michel. “For her to have to suffer in that type of way in a country like this, no, it’s not fair, and it doesn’t make sense.”“When you release someone like that that far from home, it’s a recipe for disaster,” Murphy said. “And don’t forget, these guys have cars. They were perfectly willing to drive down there to pick her up. They could have easily driven her back to Charleroi. It’s like a 40-minute drive. She would have been in her own environment. She wouldn’t have been sitting around a bus stop in September clothes in February, and she’d be alive now.” County Executive Sara Innamorato issued a statement, saying, “The death of Ms. Daphy Michel was a tragedy and appears that with a little humanity, it could have been completely avoidable. There were cascading decisions – for the Washington County Jail to call ICE instead of her family, for ICE to drop her in an unfamiliar place instead of at home – that showed a callous disregard for a person with severe mental health challenges who needed help.”Innamorato went on to say, “Whether it is here in Pittsburgh, or Buffalo where ICE left another immigrant to die in the cold, or Minneapolis where American citizens were killed by ICE officers, we’ve seen the consequences of their cruelty. It must stop. My hope is that justice is served for the victims and more accountability, oversight, and consequences are put into action by the federal government to end these preventable tragedies.”
The Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, medical examiner has ruled the death of Daphy Michel a homicide and determined hypothermia to be the cause after she was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and spent more than 30 hours at a bus stop in Pittsburgh in early March.
“This is a 31-year-old woman, perfectly healthy,” said Joseph Murphy, the attorney representing Daphy Michel’s family. “When this is all over, we’re not going to be able to get that life back.”
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Daphy Michel was found lying unresponsive at a bus stop near the Smithfield Street Bridge on March 2 and was later declared dead at a hospital.
“It’s important to remember that a medical examiner’s ruling of homicide is a decision that this death was caused by the acts or omissions of another person,” Murphy said.
Three days before her death, Daphy Michel had been in the Washington County Jail, where she had spent the past six months facing misdemeanor charges. A judge dismissed those charges Feb. 27, and her brother was in Charleroi awaiting word that he could pick her up.
However, Daphy Michel’s family was unaware that an ICE detainer had been placed on her file. After her release from jail, Daphy Michel was handed over to ICE, and she was booked into the Alternatives to Detention program. An ICE spokesperson told Hearst sister station WTAE in the days following Daphy Michel’s death that she was booked at the ICE ERO Office and released with an ankle monitor the same day.
“I can only imagine that she was freezing and that she was cold,” said Daphy Michel’s cousin, Linda Michel. “For her to have to suffer in that type of way in a country like this, no, it’s not fair, and it doesn’t make sense.”
“When you release someone like that that far from home, it’s a recipe for disaster,” Murphy said. “And don’t forget, these guys have cars. They were perfectly willing to drive down there to pick her up. They could have easily driven her back to Charleroi. It’s like a 40-minute drive. She would have been in her own environment. She wouldn’t have been sitting around a bus stop in September clothes in February, and she’d be alive now.”
County Executive Sara Innamorato issued a statement, saying, “The death of Ms. Daphy Michel was a tragedy and appears that with a little humanity, it could have been completely avoidable. There were cascading decisions – for the Washington County Jail to call ICE instead of her family, for ICE to drop her in an unfamiliar place instead of at home – that showed a callous disregard for a person with severe mental health challenges who needed help.”
Innamorato went on to say, “Whether it is here in Pittsburgh, or Buffalo where ICE left another immigrant to die in the cold, or Minneapolis where American citizens were killed by ICE officers, we’ve seen the consequences of their cruelty. It must stop. My hope is that justice is served for the victims and more accountability, oversight, and consequences are put into action by the federal government to end these preventable tragedies.”
