The death of a Haitian woman in Pittsburgh due to hypothermia has been ruled a homicide after it was determined that she was abandoned outside after being released from detention by immigration agents. Now, ICE is being criticized for leaving the woman in a life-threatening situation as the agency remains under scrutiny for its heavy-handed and sometimes lethal tactics.
Haitian asylum seeker died after being left outside following ICE detention
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of Daphy Michel a “homicide.” Daphy, 31, died on March 2, and her body was found at a Pittsburgh bus shelter. The medical examiner ruled that she died from hypothermia.
The labeling of her death as a homicide is not a declaration of whether her death involved a crime but is a determination “indicating the death was caused by the actions of another individual.”
Michel arrived at the southern border of the United States in 2022 seeking asylum and was granted parole to reside in the country while her case was being processed.
The medical examiner’s office described Michel as “suffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier.”
Michel was arrested in 2025 and spent six months in Washington County Jail after publicly yelling threats at people she was apparently imagining. After various psychological tests and a judge’s order that she could no longer be held, Michel was taken from her cell by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, fitted with an ankle monitor and left at a bus shelter 25 miles away in Pittsburgh.
Wearing light clothing, Michel spent her last few days at the bus shelter before dying of hypothermia.
Family plans lawsuit as ICE defends its actions
An attorney has indicated that Michel’s family plans to sue ICE over her death.
Joseph Murphy, who represents the family, told Pittsburgh’s Action 4 News: “This is a 31-year-old woman, perfectly healthy. When this is all over, we’re not going to be able to get that life back.”
Michel’s brother, Carlo, had been waiting to pick up his sister following the judge’s order that she be released, not knowing that she would instead be picked up by ICE.
Michel’s case adds to the scrutiny of ICE, which has been criticized for its heavy-handed tactics, including the killings of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January.
Michel’s cousin, Linda Michel, told Action News 4, “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.”
ICE released a statement defending its treatment of Michel.
“Following her arrest by local authorities for Terroristic Threats and Harassment, Daphy Michel, an illegal alien from Haiti, was encountered by ICE and placed in removal proceedings,” the statement said. “ICE issued her an ICE ankle monitor and she was released from ICE custody on February 27.”
The statement also defended leaving Michel at the Pittsburgh bus stop, saying, “She was released with all of her belongings, including a fully charged phone, in sunny weather in the middle of Pittsburgh, where public transport is readily available.”
ICE also claims that local authorities have not cooperated with the agency concerning the investigation into Michel’s death.
For Michel’s family and other critics of ICE, the agency’s attempts to defend its treatment of Michel do not justify what happened to the asylum seeker. As the family pursues legal action against ICE, the federal government once again faces questions about the death of another person following an encounter with immigration agents.