Medical examiners ruled the death of a Haitian woman seeking asylum in the U.S. to be a homicide via hypothermia after she was left by federal immigration officers at a Pittsburgh bus shelter in February.
According to The Associated Press, the examiner described Michel as “suffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier” when she was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Feb. 27. Prior to her release, she had been held in jail for six months following a reported mental health episode.
The AP report continued:
Michel was a native of Haiti who was seeking asylum in the U.S. after arriving at the southern border in 2022, said Joseph Patrick Murphy, her family’s attorney. She was granted humanitarian parole based on urgent humanitarian need, but she did not live to see a hearing scheduled for two weeks after she died, he said.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis told the AP in an email that, “ICE had NOTHING to do with this woman’s death. She passed away THREE days after ICE encountered her.”
ICE gave a similar statement to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4, saying Michel “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.”
Sunshine of course doesn’t preclude freezing temperatures. But as always, context is important with regard to Michel’s alleged condition when ICE dropped her off, apparently nowhere near her home. Michel’s attorney and the top official in Allegheny County tell a different story — one of neglect.