The Allegheny County medical examiner has ruled the death of Daphy Michel a homicide and determined hypothermia to be the cause after she spent over 30 hours at a bus stop in Pittsburgh’s South Side in early March.“This is a 31-year-old woman, perfectly healthy,” said Joseph Murphy, the attorney representing Michel’s family. “When this is all over, we’re not going to be able to get that life back.”Michel was found lying unresponsive at a bus stop along East Carson Street near the Smithfield Street Bridge on March 2 and was later declared dead at the hospital.“It’s important to remember that a medical examiner’s ruling of homicide is a decision that this death was caused by the acts or omissions of another person, so that’s something,” Murphy said.Three days before her death, Michel had been in the Washington County Jail, where she had spent the past six months facing misdemeanor charges. A judge dismissed those charges on Feb. 27, and her brother was in Charleroi awaiting word that he could pick her up.However, Michel’s family was unaware that an ICE detainer had been placed on her file. After her release from jail, Michel was handed over to ICE, and she was booked into the Alternatives to Detention program. An ICE spokesperson told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 in the days following Michel’s death that she was booked at the ICE ERO Office on the South Side and released with an ankle monitor the same day.Michel’s cousin, Linda Michel said, “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.”“When you release someone like that that far from home, it’s a recipe for disaster,” Murphy said. “And don’t forget, these guys have cars. They were perfectly willing to drive down there to pick her up. They could have easily driven her back to Charleroi. It’s like a 40-minute drive. She would have been in her own environment. She wouldn’t have been sitting around a bus stop in September clothes in February, and she’d be alive now.”Video obtained from Pittsburgh Regional Transit by Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Kalea Gunderson revealed that Michel had been at the bus stop for more than 30 hours before she was found unresponsive.County Executive Sara Innamorato issued a statement, saying, “The death of Ms. Daphy Michel was a tragedy and appears that with a little humanity, it could have been completely avoidable. There were cascading decisions – for the Washington County Jail to call ICE instead of her family, for ICE to drop her in an unfamiliar place instead of at home – that showed a callous disregard for a person with severe mental health challenges who needed help.”Innamorato went on to say, “Whether it is here in Pittsburgh, or Buffalo where ICE left another immigrant to die in the cold, or Minneapolis where American citizens were killed by ICE officers, we’ve seen the consequences of their cruelty. It must stop. My hope is that justice is served for the victims and more accountability, oversight, and consequences are put into action by the federal government to end these preventable tragedies.”Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to ICE with questions after receiving the medical examiner’s report. This story will be updated when any further comment is provided.Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.

PITTSBURGH —

The Allegheny County medical examiner has ruled the death of Daphy Michel a homicide and determined hypothermia to be the cause after she spent over 30 hours at a bus stop in Pittsburgh’s South Side in early March.

“This is a 31-year-old woman, perfectly healthy,” said Joseph Murphy, the attorney representing Michel’s family. “When this is all over, we’re not going to be able to get that life back.”

Michel was found lying unresponsive at a bus stop along East Carson Street near the Smithfield Street Bridge on March 2 and was later declared dead at the hospital.

“It’s important to remember that a medical examiner’s ruling of homicide is a decision that this death was caused by the acts or omissions of another person, so that’s something,” Murphy said.

Three days before her death, Michel had been in the Washington County Jail, where she had spent the past six months facing misdemeanor charges. A judge dismissed those charges on Feb. 27, and her brother was in Charleroi awaiting word that he could pick her up.

However, Michel’s family was unaware that an ICE detainer had been placed on her file. After her release from jail, Michel was handed over to ICE, and she was booked into the Alternatives to Detention program. An ICE spokesperson told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 in the days following Michel’s death that she was booked at the ICE ERO Office on the South Side and released with an ankle monitor the same day.

Michel’s cousin, Linda Michel said, “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.”

“When you release someone like that that far from home, it’s a recipe for disaster,” Murphy said. “And don’t forget, these guys have cars. They were perfectly willing to drive down there to pick her up. They could have easily driven her back to Charleroi. It’s like a 40-minute drive. She would have been in her own environment. She wouldn’t have been sitting around a bus stop in September clothes in February, and she’d be alive now.”

Video obtained from Pittsburgh Regional Transit by Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Kalea Gunderson revealed that Michel had been at the bus stop for more than 30 hours before she was found unresponsive.

County Executive Sara Innamorato issued a statement, saying, “The death of Ms. Daphy Michel was a tragedy and appears that with a little humanity, it could have been completely avoidable. There were cascading decisions – for the Washington County Jail to call ICE instead of her family, for ICE to drop her in an unfamiliar place instead of at home – that showed a callous disregard for a person with severe mental health challenges who needed help.”

Innamorato went on to say, “Whether it is here in Pittsburgh, or Buffalo where ICE left another immigrant to die in the cold, or Minneapolis where American citizens were killed by ICE officers, we’ve seen the consequences of their cruelty. It must stop. My hope is that justice is served for the victims and more accountability, oversight, and consequences are put into action by the federal government to end these preventable tragedies.”

Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to ICE with questions after receiving the medical examiner’s report. This story will be updated when any further comment is provided.

Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.