The man who was last seen with UC Santa Barbara student Liz Hamel leaving a bar last Valentine’s Day watched her climb a dormitory railing and fall three stories, then left as she lay critically injured, according to a Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Bureau report obtained exclusively by the News-Press.
Hamel, an 18-year-old freshman from Bellevue, Washington, died at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital seven days after the fall.
The name of the man with her that night has never been publicly released by authorities. Previously, they said they had contacted the man and interviewed him, but gave no further details.
But the newly released documents state that a UC Police Department officer told the coroner’s investigator that the man had witnessed Hamel climb the railing and fall.
The UC Police Department said her death was a result of an accidental fall. The Santa Barbara County coroner report lists her manner of death as undetermined.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office released a redacted copy of the report, dated May 7, but only recently made available to the public, in response to a News-Press California Public Records Act request.
Hamel’s parents have repeatedly insisted that many questions about their daughter’s death have not been answered. They hired an attorney and a private investigator because they were dissatisfied with the official investigation.
A fatal fall
Hamel had gone out with friends on Feb. 14, 2025. At a news conference in April, the family’s attorney and private investigator said Hamel left a restaurant, the Lao Wang Noodle Bar, with a man her friends said they did not know and left her cellphone at the bar.
The newly released sheriff’s report states that police told the coroner’s investigator that the man “witnessed the decedent jump up 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 tumbled to the ground, “he ran away,” the sheriff’s office report says.
“He panicked and left the scene of the incident, only providing information about what occurred after he was located,” according to the report.
“The male subject had been questioned multiple times and provided consistent statements during the course of UCPD investigation, with UCPD detectives feeling her death was the result of an accident,” the coroner’s report states.
A passerby found Hamel on the ground with blood under her head at 10:27 p.m. and called 911. Coroner’s officials indicate it is unclear how long Hamel had been on the ground before the call was received. Surveillance video from the bar showed her walking out with a young man at 10:06 p.m., 21 minutes before she was found, according to the report.
Final findings from authorities
Hamel’s cause of death is listed as blunt force trauma by the coroner’s office. While the UCSB Police Department ruled her death accidental, the coroner’s report states, “her death could not definitively be the result of an accident, intentional or due to the acts of another.”
UCSB spokesperson Kiki Reyes said this week there is no information to add beyond a December statement that said an “exhaustive investigation” found Hamel’s death to be an accident.
The coroner’s office, an arm of the county sheriff’s office, determined that an autopsy would not provide more useful information because of Hamel’s weeklong hospital care.
Sheriff’s spokesperson Raquel Zick said this week that her office considers the case closed.
The News-Press emailed her father Alain Hamel; the family’s attorney, Tyrone Maho; and private investigator Michael Claytor. Only one responded, Claytor, who declined to comment on the new disclosure after consulting with the other two.
Investigators have not stated a reason Hamel would have gone to the third floor of San Rafael Hall. She lived in a different dormitory.
The released copy of the coroner’s report shows significant redactions on pages that appear to contain other details about Hamel. Under a separate records request, the News-Press received the incident report and dispatch records from UC police, but all pertinent information was redacted.
The coroner’s report does introduce other details: Hamel’s fingernails appeared dirty and damaged. A UC police sergeant told the coroner’s investigator they felt the damaged fingernails were “not consistent with a fall.” The report indicates there was no evidence of sexual assault.
Documents show Hamel, who was too young to legally drink, “had a high level of alcohol in her system at the time of the incident.” An accompanying toxicology report said the 18-year-old’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.246.
Friends said Hamel was in high spirits at the bar the night of the fall and indicated a video exists of her laughing and smiling, according to the sheriff’s office report.
“Her friends described the decedent leaving with the male was unlike her, especially as she did not tell or text them about leaving,” the coroner’s investigator wrote in the report, based on one of his interviews.
