Haitian college student who lost temporary protected status dies after walking into traffic

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

A 20-year-old Haitian college student died in an apparent suicide Monday, which his father said came after the student was forced to wear an ankle monitor by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Pierre Damas Bel, a Wright State University student, reportedly walked in front of a semi-truck on Interstate 70 on Monday after being bullied by his classmates for wearing an ankle monitor, according to his family.  

“He called me at 8:03 on a video call, (and said) ‘I’m not feeling okay mentally because of the bullying,’ and I told him to come home so we can talk,” Damas Bel’s father Pierre Ronal Bel, said in a statement.

“Around 11 the police showed at my door to report that my son threw himself under a truck.”

The Ohio State Highway Patrol did not respond to a request for the incident report. 

Haitians living in Springfield are required to report to the ICE offices in Blue Ash or Westerville to accept ankle monitors. 

This started after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to end temporary protected status for the 330,000 Haitians who’ve fled violence in their home country. Legal protected status for Haitians officially ended on July 27. 

“This is one of the most tragic outcomes of the Trump administration’s cruel and inhumane attacks on the Haitian community,” Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance said in a statement. 

Jozef said he believes the Trump administration is “fully responsible” in the death of Damas Bel, based on the statements the student made to his father, “that he could no longer bear the stigma that comes with having this ankle monitor device on his foot.”

Damas Bel was a first-year student studying neuroscience and had hopes of going to medical school, according to his Instagram. He came to the United States in 2023. 

“I came to this country to pursue my education. I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone,” he wrote in a July post. “Yet now I’m walking through the streets of the United States with a GPS monitor on my leg, carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience.”

“I came here to study, to build my future, and to live a better life not to be treated like a criminal. So now, how am I supposed to play college sports with a GPS monitor on my leg?”

Damas Bel graduated from Springfield High School in May. 

“We are heartbroken by this devastating loss,” Wright State President Sue Edwards said in a statement. 

“Pierre was an active honors student who was passionate about soccer and was already actively engaged in his classes and the campus community,” Edwards said in a statement. “The University mourns the death of Pierre and extends our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time.” 

Damas Bel’s father said his son “felt like he was treated like an animal” because of the ankle monitor. He also said his son was not given his Reserve Officers’ Training Corps uniform at Wright State because of the ankle monitor.

Wright State had “no confirmed information regarding complaints or investigations into bullying,” university spokesperson Deena John said in an email.

“This is a horrible, horrible tragedy,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine told reporters Tuesday. 

About 15,000 Haitians live in Springfield, with a mixture of temporary protected status, citizenship and other legal status.

Haitian Support Center Executive Director Viles Dorsainvil has been with the family since Monday.

“I was just speechless,” he said. “Why was I speechless? It was because I have been experiencing on a daily basis what some of our Haitian brothers and sisters have been through with this program of shackling.”

Damas Bel had two younger siblings, ages 15 and 3. 

Carl Ruby, pastor of Springfield’s Central Christian Church, said the 15-year-old is “extremely scared” of being sent back to Haiti, and though the family wishes they could send Damas Bel’s body back to Haiti, “that is not an option.”

“They just want to get through the next day,” Ruby said.

Yola Lamarre, an advocate with the Haitian Community Network, said Pierre shared a lot of his depressive thoughts with her after the ankle monitoring began. 

“Pierre was not a criminal; he was treated as one,” she said. “… we’re going to miss you.”

Hundreds of Haitians are currently wearing ankle monitors, advocates said. 

More than 40 Haitians in Springfield have been detained by ICE — including two Haitian pastors. 

ICE agents are detaining people in Springfield in shopping plazas, gas stations and apartment complexes. 

The U.S. Department of State currently has a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Haiti “due to the risk of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest, and limited healthcare,” according to the agency.

A top security official and chief of staff to the nation’s defense minister was kidnapped in June. 

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.