New Details Emerge in UCSB Student Liz Hamel’s Fatal Fall

New details have emerged in the death of University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) student Elizabeth “Liz” Hamel, the 18-year-old freshman who died on campus after a tragic accident on February 14, 2025.

On April 30, 2025, the University of California Police Department (UCPD) announced it had identified a person of interest who was last seen with Hamel moments before she died, though authorities have not publicly released his identity.

According to newly released documents from the Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Bureau, a UCPD officer told a coroner’s investigator that the man witnessed Hamel climb a railing and fall three stories, then fled as she lay critically injured, Santa Barbara News-Press reported.

While the UCPD said that Hamel’s death was due to an accidental fall, the Santa Barbara County Coroner mentioned the manner of her death as undetermined, according to the news report. 

A redacted copy of the coroner’s report, dated May 7, 2025, was released by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, which was released to the public recently in response to a News-Press California Public Records Act request. 

On February 14, 2025, Hamel joined her friends from her residence at San Miguel Hall for a restaurant in Isla Vista. For most of the time, she was seen with a male companion and was seen leaving the restaurant with him at 10:06 p.m.

The male was described as white, nearly six-feet-tall, wearing light blue jeans, a grey Patagonia sweater, and a carabiner on his right hip. Fliers seeking his information were plastered across the UCSB campus and Isla Vista. 

At 10:27 p.m., a bystander called 911 to report that Hamel was lying unconscious outside of the San Rafael Hall. She was taken to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where she died of her injuries after six days. 

Citing the newly released sheriff’s report, the News-Press report stated that UCPD told the coroner’s investigator that the man saw Hamel “jump on the walkway railing and then fall back, falling from the upper story of the San Rafael Hall on UCSB campus.” 

As soon as she hit the ground, he panicked and “ran away.” He only provided information about what happened after he was located, the report said. 

According to the coroner’s report, the male companion had been interrogated multiple times and provided “consistent statements” during the investigation. 

Investigators have not clarified why Hamel went to the third floor of San Rafael Hall, even though she lived in another dormitory. 

While the UCPD had said Hamel’s death was accidental, the coroner’s office listed the death as due to blunt force trauma, the news report said. Her death “could not definitively be the result of an accident, intentional or due to the acts of another,” the report stated. 

Documents also showed that Hamel had a significant level of alcohol in her system when she fell. An accompanying toxicology report indicated that Hamel’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.246, according to the News-Press.

In a public statement, attorney Tyrone Maho, of Maho Prentice LLP and attorneys for Hamel’s family, said “a deeper and more thorough investigation” is needed from the authorities. 

The Santa Barbara News-Press reports on Feb. 14, 2025 UCSB student Liz Hamel climbed on top of a dorm rail and fell three floors leading to injuries that caused her death days later. A witness gave details on what happened and the call to 911. The family attorney responds. pic.twitter.com/VPIaLk4YYj

— John Palminteri (@JohnPalminteri) February 5, 2026

Maho questioned why the male companion witnessed Hamel fall and fled the scene, instead of calling 911. 

“As a civil attorney, I am limited in what I can do civilly, and the Hamel family desperately needs answers,” Maho said. 

He called on the community’s support again, particularly students at UCSB, those who lived at San Rafael Hall, and anyone who knows the male companion, to come forward and help the Hamel family. 

Hamel’s death had triggered a bigger discussion about campus safety and community responsibility. Her father, Alain Hamel, had expressed regret that the university did not seek public cooperation sooner and that police strategies did not prioritize community engagement.