Please take care as you read, as this article focuses on suicide. If you need help, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Pierre Damas Bel, the 20-year-old Haitian college student who died after stepping into interstate traffic in August, died by suicide, according to a death certificate completed Oct. 16.
Bel's family and friends said he took his own life out of humiliation after immigration officials required him to wear an ankle monitor.
At the time, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it would not "speculate" about Bel's cause of death while it remained under investigation.
This week, in response to The Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network, ICE said the circumstances are still being investigated by the Ohio
State Highway Patrol. The patrol confirmed the investigation remains open.
Clark County's acting coroner, meanwhile, ruled Bel's death a suicide on a death certificate completed Oct. 16.
"The decedent walked into oncoming traffic," said the document, signed by Acting Clark County Coroner Aamir Khan and filed with the Ohio Department of Health.
Bel's death part of national immigration conversation
Bel, a first-year student at Wright State University, arrived in the United States in 2024 and joined his family in Springfield. Ohio. On July 29 – just two days after the U.S. government ended Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the United States – he left a scheduled ICE check-in meeting with an ankle monitor to track him.
On the morning of Aug. 31, a week after starting at Wright State, he parked on Interstate 70 near Clark County's Harmony Township and stepped into westbound traffic, the Highway Patrol said in an earlier press release. At 11a.m. local time, police visited his family's home to report that he'd thrown himself under a moving semi-trailer truck.
Bel's death has remained part of the national immigration conversation since the summer.
Supporters in Springfield's large Haitian community – Clark County is home to about 15,000 Haitians – have staged vigils and marches. His emotional Oct. 3 funeral attracted more than 200 people, including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, to a Springfield Baptist church. Media coverage has been ongoing, most recently getting attention in a "Frontline" documentary released Oct. 20 and a National Public Radio featurethis week.
Report lists Bel's extensive injuries
The Montgomery County Coroner's office completed an autopsy of Bel's body for Clark County on Oct. 11.
Bel's death was caused by "multiple blunt force injuries," according to a report signed by Montgomery County Deputy Coroner Kristan Abernathy.
Clark County completed the death certificate after receiving autopsy results from the neighboring county, a Clark County office said.
In the death certificate, Khan also listed "multiple blunt force injuries" as the immediate cause of death. Suicide was the manner of death, the certificate said, which also noted that Bel "walked into oncoming traffic" on I-70.
Bel's family is aware of the coroner's findings, said Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of Springfield's Haitian Support Center.
"The father has been waiting for this report a long time," he said. "It was important for him to know."
The family wanted proof of suicide to highlight the harm of ankle monitors, according to advocates.
Bel's death still 'under investigation,' U.S. says
Asked for comment about the coroner findings, a statement from an unnamed Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the Ohio State Highway Patrol notified the agency about Bel's death Aug. 31. Calling Bel a "non-detained illegal alien," the statement said, "the circumstances of his death remain under investigation by OSHP."
The agency also repeated an earlier statement that “any attempts to blame ICE for the death of Pierre Damas Bel are FALSE."
Bel arrived in the United States under the Biden administration's "disastrous CBP One app," the statement said, referring to an earlier mobile application of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process newly arriving immigrants. He was placed in ICE's "alternatives to detention program" with an ankle monitor in July to continue his immigration proceedings, the statement said.
"No one is required to stay in the United States illegally and wear a GPS monitor," the agency said. "Illegal aliens have a lawful, voluntary option: they can self-deport through the CBP Home app. Eligible participants receive a government-arranged flight home and a $3,000 check."
The agency did not answer a question about whether ICE changed any policies related to ankle monitors in response to Bel's death. Advocates in Springfield have reported an increase in the use of a phone app called SmartLINKto monitor Haitians there, in lieu of ankle monitors.
Resources
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization that funds suicide prevention research: www.afsp.org
Suicide Awareness Voices of Education is a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization that supports those who have lost loved ones to suicide: www.save.org
- If you have ever thought about taking your own life, make a safety plan.
- Survivors who have experienced suicidal thoughts shared their coping techniques with USA TODAY.
- Here is what suicide prevention experts recommend for helping people who are suicidal.
- This is what actually happens when you call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
- When people die by suicide, this is how their close friends and family grieve.
Stories of Hope
- Stepping back from the ledge
- Suicide never entered his mind. Then 9/11 happened.
- She worked in suicide prevention. Then one day she had to save herself.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Coroner confirms cause of death of Ohio Haitian man monitored by ICE
