Haitian Student Dies After Walking Into Traffic Following TPS Loss and Ankle Monitor

Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant and freshman at Wright State University, died on a Monday when he walked into traffic on Interstate 70 in Springfield, Ohio, after pulling his car onto the right shoulder. Ohio State Highway Patrol reported that a large tractor-trailer hit him, causing fatal injuries at the scene. Earlier that week, ICE ordered him to wear an ankle monitor following a Supreme Court decision that let the Trump administration cancel Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, restricting residents to a 75-mile radius.

Bel’s family says the monitor’s stigma and loss of freedom drove him to suicide. A former honors high-school graduate and JROTC cadet, he was unable to wear his uniform or play soccer after the monitoring began. The tragedy has reverberated through Springfield’s Haitian enclave of about 15,000 people, heightening anxiety over the TPS termination. He was scheduled for an asylum hearing in October and had expressed fear of returning to Haiti due to ongoing violence.