Haitian American family still seeking answers months after U.S. veteran’s body decomposes in custody of Dominican authorities

CAP-HAÏTIEN — Nearly 10 months after the death of Haitian American veteran Pierre Dachoute in the Dominican Republic, his family in the United States is still seeking answers. 

The ordeal occurred in January 2024. Dominican authorities failed to preserve Dachoute’s body, which decomposed so severely that it could not be repatriated for burial. The Army held his funeral in the U.S. without his body. Devastated, the family is demanding an explanation for how such negligence occurred.

Dachoute, a 43-year-old U.S. Army veteran, died on Jan. 9 after being stabbed by his girlfriend during an altercation. His family struggled to locate his body for nine days. A funeral home finally found it in a pathology lab on Jan. 18, already decomposed. Dominican officials failed to place the body in a cold room, forcing the family to cremate his remains instead of giving him a proper burial.

“How the hell would you leave a dead body in a hot room for a whole week? Nonsense,” said Stéphanie Dachoute-Elas, Pierre’s sister living in Tennessee. “We never got to see his body one last time. We want answers, and we want closure.”

The family provided a picture of Dachoute’s body to The Haitian Times. His skin had changed from brown to beige, his lips had rotted away, exposing his teeth, and his nose and cheeks were crumbled. Most of his dreadlocks and beard had fallen off by the time the body was discovered.

The funeral home in the Dominican Republic that found the body, Jerusalén Funeral Home, offered an apology via WhatsApp even though it was not their fault that the body was not preserved. 

“Here in the Dominican Republic, some places do not have a cold room,” Jerusalén Funeral Home said. “We’re sorry.”

Dachoute-Elas remains unsatisfied with this explanation, feeling that her brother’s body was treated with disrespect, possibly because of his Haitian background.

Seeking justice for neglect and heartbreak

Dachoute’s family is still awaiting clear answers from Dominican authorities. The San Pedro de Macorís Prosecutor’s Office, which handled the case, and the police force has yet to respond to The Haitian Times’ requests for comment. 

Prosecutor Fryna Lebrón Herrera, who oversaw the investigation, has stopped answering the family’s messages, Dachoute-Elas said.

The Haitian American family is considering legal action. “We may sue,” Dachoute-Elas said, “if that’s a possibility.”

Jean Dorsainvil, a retired U.S. Marine and Haitian American Veterans Association (HAVA) member, echoed the family’s frustration. 

“Why didn’t they preserve the body?” Dorsainvil asked. “If it were their own people, they wouldn’t have let that happen.” 

Dorsainvil also called for compensation from the Dominican government, stating, “I’m trying not to cry, we shouldn’t be attacked, used or mistreated the way they mistreat us.”

Jeremy Eckstrom, a U.S. Marines veteran living in Tennessee who knew Dachoute since 2005, is also shocked because the body was not preserved. 

“I could not believe it, I don’t know what to say. It’s just terrible,” Eckstrom, 47, said. “And Pierre was a people’s person. He got along with everybody. He was a great guy. He helped me move my mom to Tennessee… He was the closest thing to a brother that I could have.”

 “Why didn’t they preserve the body? If it were their own people, they wouldn’t have let that happen.”

Jean Dorsainvil, member of Haitian American Veterans Association 

A love story turns tragic

Dachoute’s tragic death adds another layer to the fraught relationship between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He had moved to San Pedro de Macorís in the early 2020s after serving 17 years in the U.S. Army, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army veteran, who struggled with PTSD, had met his girlfriend, Schylove Estheard, an alleged 24-year-old former prostitute, in the Dominican Republic, his family said.

Their relationship ended in violence on Jan. 9, when Dachoute allegedly abused Estheard physically. Estheard, in self-defense, stabbed him in the back with a nine-inch knife, Herrera told the family via WhatsApp messages in January. Estheard herself called the police, admitting to the stabbing but claiming it was not her intention to kill him. Estheard was arrested on the scene.

Although Estheard initially confessed to killing Dachoute, she later changed her statement, telling police that he had committed suicide. As part of the investigation, an autopsy was conducted, but the family was left in the dark about the body’s whereabouts. Dachoute-Elas said they were only told that the body was being kept in a “room.”

Engel Estalin Guevara, the owner of Jerusalén Funeral Home, told The Haitian Times that the body was in a state of “advanced decomposition” when it was found but added that the reason for this “can only be obtained through the authorities.”

While Dachoute’s family disputes claims of his violence, Estheard had expressed unhappiness in the relationship through posts on social media. 

“When someone doesn’t love you anymore, it’s easy to discover that. He always plays with your weaknesses, making you think you’re nothing,” she wrote on Facebook on September 7, 2023, “and enjoys doing what he knows you don’t like.”

Dachoute was born in Pétion-Ville, Haiti, and moved to Boston, Massachusetts, when he was about 14 years old. He served in the Army from 2001 to 2018 and was divorced after being married for 20 years, his family said.

According to the family, the U.S. Army veteran left three daughters, aged 14 to 19, with his ex-wife. They all live with their mother in Tennessee. 

A deeper conflict between Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Dachoute’s case is emblematic of the long-standing tensions between Haitians and Dominicans. His family and supporters suspect that racial and national bias played a role in the mishandling of his body. The Haitian-Dominican Republic conflict has been marked by centuries of discrimination and violence, which continues to this day.

In August, months after Dachoute’s incident, a Dominican immigration officer physically assaulted Guy Théus, a retired U.S. Army Sergeant Major who is of Haitian descent. 

Trying to cross the Dajabòn border, Théus, a humanitarian from Long Island, New York, was on his way to Ouanaminthe, Haiti’s northeastern town, to join his wife and assist over 100 children with a summer camp when the incident occurred. Accompanied by two other U.S. citizens, he was carrying equipment for the camp. The journey, intended to be a routine crossing at a checkpoint, turned into a troubling confrontation, where the Dominican officer reportedly punched Théus in the face between his temple and right eye.

In the months following Dachoute’s death, the Dominican Republic has ramped up deportations of Haitians. In the first week of October, the Dominican government deported nearly 11,000 Haitians in a week as part of its mass deportation campaign to remove 10,000 Haitians per week, according to the Associated Press. This aggressive policy has further inflamed tensions between the two nations.

“The Dominican Republic doesn’t like Haitians,” Dorsainvil said. 

Dachoute’s death, compounded by the mishandling of his body, has left his family reeling. His younger brother, Nephthali Dachoute, is particularly angered by the lack of accountability. 

As the family continues to seek justice, the lack of closure haunts them. For now, they are left with more questions than answers about why they had to hold a funeral without their beloved Pierre’s body.

“What was the reason they didn’t preserve the body?” he asked. “Was it because he was Haitian? Because he was Black American? We don’t have answers.”

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Haitian American family still seeking answers months after U.S. veteran’s body decomposes in custody of Dominican authorities was first posted on October 17, 2024 at 11:06 am.