Managers of a care home have been accused of criminal negligence after a resident was left ‘alone and freezing’ to die in bitter weather.
Cynthia ‘Cindy’ Pierce, 73, developed hypothermia in February 2021, when Winter Storm Uri knocked out power for millions in Texas.
She was taken to hospital, but died shortly afterwards, with her body temperature down to 94.2°F (34.5°C) according to her family.
Over four years later, two senior staff members have been indicted by. a grand jury over her death, as well as Harvest Renaissance – Austin, LLC, which ran the assisted-living facility.
The company and its former employees, the facility’s executive director Mendi Ramsay and wellness director Rochelle Alvarado stand accused of Injury to an Elderly Person.
Staff ‘failed to promptly move and transport’ elderly and disabled Cynthia to a warmer area within the facility which was ‘readily available after finding her in an unheated room with the windows open’, a statement from the district attorney about the indictment says.
It alleges that there was ‘criminal negligence by omission’ resulting in bodily injury, because they ‘failed to properly care for her’ and did not notify the state’s Health and Service’s Commission of the power outage.
Holly Ferguson, Cynthia Pierce’s daughter, said she was grateful that the Travis County District Attorney’s Office was pursuing justice.
She said: ‘Harvest misrepresented themselves as a licensed care facility, able to provide care rooted in dignity, safety, and compassion. Their misrepresentation and their gross negligence led directly to my mom’s death.
‘My mom was left alone and freezing, and it shouldn’t have happened.
‘We hope this criminal case will force Harvest to take responsibility for their failings and make permanent changes so that something like this never happens again.’
After the death in 2021, family members told Texan station Kxan that they were not informed of any problems with power at the home, thought it had back-up generators, and if they had been aware they could have picked up their relative.
The first sign something was wrong was when the hospital phoned her daughter to ask if she had a ‘do not resuscitate’ order, niece Elyse Yates told the station.
Describing it as ‘unimaginable’ that her aunt could freeze to death in 2021, she recalled how she was an intelligent woman who loved Greek mythology and was a skilled in computer programming.
Travis County District Attorney José Garza said: ‘Our hearts continue to break for the family of Cynthia Pierce.
‘All families should know that when their loved ones reside in an assisted living facility, they will be safe.
‘When employers and their employees engage in criminal conduct and expose vulnerable people to dangerous living conditions, this office will hold them accountable.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
