Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide

The death of a nearly blind refugee from Myanmar who was found on a Buffalo street in February — five days after Border Patrol agents left him at a doughnut shop — has been ruled a homicide, authorities said Wednesday.

The Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office didn’t reach any conclusions about responsibility for Nurul Amin Shah Alam’s death, which the agency said was caused by complications of a perforated duodenal ulcer, precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration. Ruling a death a homicide means it resulted from another person’s actions — or inaction — but doesn’t necessarily mean that a crime was committed.

“This should not have happened,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, a Democrat, said at a news conference Wednesday, expressing condolences to Shah Alam’s family…

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