Pierre Damas Bel death mystery fuels calls for immigration reform as family grieves

Pierre Damas Bel, a Wright State freshman who just started attending college for a few days, died on Monday, August 31, 2026.

The 20-year-old Haitian, who was enrolled at Wright State University, pursuing neuroscience with hopes high of carving a future in the United States, met a sudden tragedy.

The circumstances surrounding his death have left his family, friends and community calling for immigration reforms.

As per Bel’s father, his son called him Monday morning and informed him he was facing bullying that made him stressed.

“Dad, I’m not feeling okay. I’m not thinking right…because of the bullies,” Bel told him, as per his father’s statement, according to a CBS affiliate 10WBNS.

After hearing this, his father told him to come back so they could sort things out.

But it was not to be, as police arrived at the family’s home and informed them of their son’s traffic tragedy after he was hit by a truck on the I-70 highway.

Did an ICE ankle monitor get Bel bullied in college?

Another distressful detail emerged when Bel’s family and friends alleged that the last month of his life was marked by increasing distress after ICE placed him on an electronic ankle monitor.

ICE confirmed that Bel was placed on the monitor on July 29 as his immigration case moved forward.

Bel’s sister Lamarre, in an interview with 10TV, revealed that Bel told her the monitor was painful and interfered with soccer.

“He couldn’t practise. He wanted people to see the reality of how someone who was following the rules was handicapped and paralysed by living life,” Lamarre said.

Bel’s family and friends allege that the monitor has caused their son to become the subject of the college bullying.

With the Ohio State Highway Patrol investigation into Bel’s death, ICE declined to comment on unverified claims about the circumstances that led to his death in a traffic accident.