Family to sue after woman released from ICE custody froze to death

The family of a Haitian immigrant who froze to death in a bus shelter after being released from federal custody is preparing to take legal action against the United States and multiple other governmental and non-governmental entities. According to reporting detailed by Aol and The Guardian, the impending lawsuit follows months of scrutiny surrounding the circumstances of the woman's final days.

The case centres on Daphy Michel, 31, who spent months in a county jail following a reported mental health crisis and street incident before being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Upon her release from federal custody with an ankle monitor, Michel was left to find her way home to Charleroi, a small community located miles away from Pittsburgh. Instead of reaching home, she was found dead three days later. Pennsylvania officials ruled her death a homicide caused by hypothermia.

Media additions

According to the Allegheny county medical examiner’s office, Michel was classified as a vulnerable adult at the time of her release on 27 February, suffering from untreated severe mental health issues alongside a significant language barrier. Joseph Murphy, an attorney representing members of Michel’s family living locally, stated that the lawsuit will be filed within the next few weeks. Murphy criticised the decision to release her into freezing conditions given her medical vulnerability, describing the action as a poor judgment call.

Relatives and legal representation contend that immigration authorities failed to comprehend the severe risks Michel faced when left alone on an unfamiliar city street. At the time she was found unresponsive, temperatures had plummeted, and she was wearing summer clothes. Surveillance camera images—first published by the independent non-profit outlet Pittsburgh’s Public Source and later shared with reporting partners—tracked Michel at a Pittsburgh bus shelter for about 24 hours, moving from a bench into darkness and eventually onto the ground. Authorities eventually found her following a call, and she died hours later at a hospital.

The sequence of events leading to Michel's death began months prior when police arrested her after an emergency call reported a mental health crisis in Charleroi, where she was reportedly screaming in response to imaginary voices and brandishing a knife. She was subsequently detained in the Washington county jail while facing court hearings that faced repeated rescheduling. Although a judge ultimately dismissed the charges and ordered her release from jail, she was promptly arrested by ICE and transported in the opposite direction from her home to an office in south Pittsburgh before her discharge.

Conflicting accounts have emerged regarding the conditions of her release. The Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE, stated previously that the weather had been sunny and that Michel possessed a fully charged phone. However, attorney Murphy disputed this claim, noting that her phone plan had expired during her incarceration. Furthermore, while the DHS referred to Michel as an illegal alien and asserted in a social media statement that it had nothing to do with her death, Murphy maintained that she had entered the US legally, held humanitarian status, and maintained a pending asylum application. The DHS did not respond to recent inquiries regarding the upcoming lawsuit, her time in custody, or her death.

The medical examiner’s office clarified that its homicide ruling does not denote criminal guilt, but rather indicates actions caused by another individual. Pittsburgh detectives are actively investigating the matter. Meanwhile, the tragedy mirrors a similar incident that occurred in New York, where a refugee with vision impairment and limited English was found dead after being dropped off alone near a closed coffee shop, with that case also resulting in a homicide ruling.

Timeline of Events

• September: Michel is arrested by police following a mental health crisis in Charleroi and placed in county jail.
• Late February: A judge dismisses the charges against Michel, but ICE arrests her upon her release from jail and takes her to south Pittsburgh.
• 27 February: ICE releases Michel with an ankle monitor.
• 1 March: Surveillance cameras capture Michel arriving at a Pittsburgh bus shelter, where she remains for approximately 24 hours.
• June: Pennsylvania officials officially rule the death a homicide.

As this world coverage demonstrates, accountability issues surrounding vulnerable detainees remain critical. What happens next depends on the formal filing of the lawsuit by Michel's family within the coming weeks, alongside the ongoing police investigation into the homicide ruling.