The death of a woman from Haiti seeking asylum in the U.S. who died from hypothermia days after her release from federal custody was ruled a
ByΒ Β JACK DURA Updated 1:45 PM MST, June 13, 2026
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A medical examiner has ruled the death of a Haitian asylum seeker after being released from federal custody a homicide. An attorney representing her family said he expects her relatives to sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement in connection with her death.
Daphy Michel, 31, died March 2. She was found at a bus shelter in Pittsburgh. The Allegheny County Medical Examinerβs Office found her cause of death to be hypothermia and ruled the manner a homicide, βindicating the death was caused by the actions of another individualβ and should not be interpreted as a declaration of criminal guilt, the office said in a statement. The office released its findings Friday.
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 familyβs 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.
