Ugandan woman commits suicide in US over deportation

 Vision Reporter and Agencies

A 23-year-old Ugandan woman facing deportation committed suicide at a Sterling Heights park in unusual incident that caused a pre-dawn hazardous materials emergency Monday, police said.

The woman’s body was found inside a car spotted by a Sterling Heights patrol officer at approximately 4:45 a.m. Monday in the parking lot of Delia Park, on 18 Mile Road, according to Oakland Press website.

As the officer approached the 2006 Ford Focus, he noticed that several signs stating “Contact 911 HAZMAT” were on the vehicle, including the license plate and windows. The patrolman smelled a strong odor emanating from the car.

Sterling Heights police Lt. Luke Riley said the woman was unresponsive in the driver’s seat, with a bucket of unknown liquid and containers of muriatic acid near her.

The Sterling Heights Fire Department’s HAZMAT team responded, opened the vehicle and determined the woman was dead. Officials also summoned the Macomb County HAZMAT team to contain the toxic liquids and clean the vehicle before it was hauled away.

“There was no residences in the immediate area that were in any type of danger at all,” Riley said.

The patrolman who spotted the vehicle and the woman’s body inside was taken to a local clinic for examination because of his exposure to the “extremely toxic” fumes, Riley said. The officer did not complain of any ill effects and appeared to be doing OK.

No suicide note was found in the car but investigators recovered one in her home. Detectives spoke with her family members who reported she may have been despondent over her pending deportation, which was under appeal.

Riley said police have not delved into the deportation case but added that the woman, who was single with no children, resided with her mother and siblings in Sterling Heights. The family home is not far from Delia Park, located east of Dequindre Road.

Riley said he did not know how long the 23-year-old woman had been in the United States, but that she had earned a college degree in the U.S.

Police did not divulge the woman’s name. An autopsy was expected to be performed by the Macomb County Medical Examiner’s Office.