A coroner has ruled the death of a Haitian asylum seeker after his release from federal custody a homicide. An attorney representing her family said he expects her relatives will sue ICE in connection with her death.
Duffy Michele, 31, died on March 2. She was found in a bus shelter in Pittsburgh. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office found the cause of death to be hypothermia and ruled the manner of homicide “suggesting that death was caused by the actions of another person” and should not be construed as a declaration of criminal guilt, the office said in a statement. The office released its results on Friday.
Joseph Patrick Murphy, her family’s lawyer, said Michelle was a citizen of Haiti and was seeking asylum in the United States after arriving at the southern border in 2022. He added that she was granted parole based on an urgent humanitarian need, but did not live to see a hearing scheduled two weeks after her death.
The Medical Examiner’s Office said Michelle was a vulnerable adult “suffering from severe untreated mental health issues and a significant language barrier” at the time of her release on February 27, the office said.
She was arrested last summer for yelling at imaginary people because of her psychological challenges, Murphy said. He added that she spent six months in the Washington County Jail, where she underwent several psychological examinations while awaiting her first hearing.
The judge said he could not prosecute her on charges of threatening imaginary people, Murphy said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement then detained her in her cell, put her on an ankle monitor and drove her 25 miles (40 kilometers) to Pittsburgh, where she sat in a bus shelter for several days in the winter, he said.
“She was wearing September clothes, and it was February, and she was overwhelmed by the weather and went down with hypothermia,” Murphy said.
A coroner’s finding of murder is different from a criminal charge, which means “someone did or failed to do something that led to her death,” Murphy said. He said he expects Michelle’s family will file a lawsuit against ICE in connection with her death.
In an email, Homeland Security spokeswoman Loren Pace said: “Immigration and Customs Enforcement had nothing to do with this woman’s death. She died three days after she was confronted by ICE.”
Michelle was described as an “illegal alien from Haiti” and was placed in deportation proceedings after her arrest.
Pace said Michelle had all of her belongings and her phone fully charged when she was released, with public transportation available. She said ICE learned the day after Michelle’s death that her ankle monitor had been “tampered with,” but county medical examiner staff “refused to cooperate or even speak with” ICE officials.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement contacted the U.S. Marshals Service, which recovered the ankle monitor, but was not given information on Michelle’s condition, Pace said. She said Immigration and Customs Enforcement learned of her death through the media.
In a statement, Allegheny County Executive Sarah Inamorato called Michelle’s death “a tragedy that, with a little humanity, seems entirely avoidable.”
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said her death was avoidable and that she “deserves care, shelter, access to language and medical support.”
Ice is No longer reports Detainees die within 30 days of being released from custody, ending the Biden-era policy in 2021. Health experts say the change would reflect fewer deaths than already occur without addressing medical care issues.
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Dora reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.