The family of UC Santa Barbara freshman Liz Hamel held a press conference this morning at San Rafael Residence Hall to request the assistance of students and community members in obtaining information regarding the balcony fall that resulted in her death on Feb. 14.
Attorney Tyrone Maho and Alain Hamel held the conference to reach out to community members who could help aid the investigation. Jack Dindia / Daily Nexus
Elizabeth “Liz” Hamel was found unconscious outside of the San Rafael Residence Hall with serious head and body injuries on Feb. 14 at 10:26 p.m., according to her father Alain Hamel. She died six days later, at 18 years old.
The press conference was held by Attorney Tyrone Maho of the law firm Maho Prentice, LLP, alongside Alain Hamel, to request that students and community members come forward with any information that may help with the investigation.
On the evening of Feb. 14 at approximately 8 p.m., Hamel and friends went from San Miguel hall, where she lived, to the restaurant Lao Wang in Isla Vista, according to Maho. She was there for over two hours, and was seen with a young male who was with her “for a large part of that evening.” Sometime after 10:06 p.m., she was seen leaving Lao Wang with him. 21 minutes later, she was found unconscious outside of San Rafael and then taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for emergency care.
According to a press release from Maho sent to the Nexus, the young male was described as white, “approximately 6-feet tall” with “dark blond hair,” wearing light blue Carhartt jeans, a gray Patagonia sweater and “a carabiner with keys on his right hip.” The family “does not know who he is” or what occurred in those 21 minutes.
“We’re calling upon our greatest resource, UCSB, to help identify this person. Whether you know this or not, your awareness, your photos, your memories, could help answer critical questions,” Alain Hamel said.
The informational flyers are being put up around campus and Isla Vista, with a drawing of the young male seen with Liz Hamel. Jack Dindia / Daily Nexus
Maho emphasized that they are not “accusing anyone of wrongdoing.”
“If you are this young man, or you know who he is, we are pleading with you to come forward. If you have any information about that evening, we are pleading with you to come forward. If you were on campus that night, or in Isla Vista, or you heard someone talk about this who may know something, please come forward. You may hold important information that can help bring peace to a family that is suffering greatly,” Maho said.
Michael Claytor of Claytor Investigations, as well as the family investigator, said the “most difficult aspect” is the ongoing investigation. He said the UC Police Department (UCPD) has to limit the amount of information from the detectives bureau due to practice and procedure, meaning they “do not have an idea as to where they are at in the investigation.”
Alain Hamel said they assume the male lives in San Rafael or knows someone who did, since she lived in San Miguel, which is on the other side of campus and not on the direct path to her dorm.
“From Lao Wangs to here, one doesn’t just stumble across the dorm. It’s not the first place one would go to. So we believe he might have known someone here [or] might have been staying here. We do not know. This was not her dorm, but this is where she was found,” Maho said.
Maho said his firm will be distributing flyers across campus and in Isla Vista in hopes that someone will be able to identify him. Alain Hamel said in an interview with the Nexus that the lack of cameras along the pathway from Lao Wang to San Rafael have resulted in a lack of evidence.
“There isn’t a tremendous amount of evidence, and therefore the best evidence is from the community, and we recognize this pretty early,” Alain Hamel said. “ I wish that the University had implored the community to step forward with information earlier.”
Alain Hamel said that in an early briefing with the police, they outlined a strategy that “did not include public outreach.” In an interview with the Nexus, he said that “the University should have gone wider.”
“We respected that approach and trusted the process. However, as the weeks turned into months, we’ve been having briefings with the police, and the tenor has slightly changed in that area, as it seems they’re having difficulty identifying the man,” Alain Hamel said.
Maho called upon the University and “specifically Chancellor [Henry T.] Yang” to accept the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office’s offer of assistance to UCPD with the investigation.
“I would like that they would have sent out an email to all the students, faculty and staff for information. They have not done so,” Maho said.
“I shouldn’t be standing here. I should be at home, grieving my daughter and trusting in the institutions that are responsible for this investigation. But the academic quarter is coming to an end. Students are graduating or leaving campus. People’s memories fade,” Alain Hamel said.
Maho urges that if the public knows any information that could benefit the investigation, they can call Claytor Investigations at 805-335-3851, or contact him via his website.
