The deaths of 12 elderly residents of a Broward County nursing home in the wake of Hurricane Irma have been ruled homicides by police.
In total, 14 people aged 57-99 died in The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after it lost power to its air conditioner on September 10. Eight died on September 13 and the rest in the weeks afterward.
All but two of those deaths have now been blamed on the sweltering conditions – and their relatives are asking who will go to jail, The Sun-Sentinel reported.
Police say that 12 of the 14 deaths at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills (pictured) after Hurricane Irma are homicides related to the loss of the building’s air conditioning
The AC was lost on September 10; three days later eight people died. Another four died in the weeks following as a result of the failed AC, police say. No charges have yet been made
Couple Cecilia Franco and Miguel Antonio Franco (both pictured in undated photo) were among those who died. Their granddaughter is now demanding justice
Authorities confirmed the homicide rulings on Wednesday, following autopsies and an investigation into the catastrophe.
No arrests have yet been made nor charges pressed.
Police spokeswoman Miranda Grossman says the investigation will continue and part of that will be determining who should be charged.
‘We don’t have a timeline of when there would be charges at this point,’ she added.
But Erika Navarro, whose grandparents, Cecilia Franco, 90, and Miguel Antonio Franco, 92, are among the alleged homicides, is eager for justice.
‘The next steps are the more important ones,’ she said. ‘Who is going to be held accountable? Are they going to go to jail?
‘Are they just going to get a free pass and just pay money, and nothing else happens?’
‘To me, that’s more important, that people are held accountable and they actually go to jail.’
Bobby Owens (left) and Martha Murray (right) also passed away as a result of the stifling heat, cops said. The building had a generator but it was being used to cook food, not cool residents
Albertina Vega (left) and Betty Hibbard (right) also died. Vega’s family were sent a bill for her care even after her death.
The Rehabilitation Center lost the power to its air conditioner on September 10, shortly after Irma slammed into Florida.
With the only generator being used to cook food, and no other backup generators, indoor temperatures quickly began to rise.
On September 11, 911 received two calls from the home reporting that an 81-year-old woman and a 93-year-old man were having difficulty breathing. No-one died that day.
But early on September 13, a deluge of calls began, as first one, then another, then ultimately eight patients suffered heart failure or otherwise succumbed to the heat.
A series of 911 calls released last month showed staff apparently panicking, with one staff member struggling to remember the phone number of the building.
‘954, hold on, uh, 954, uh, 954, um…’ they said.
Another staff member told 911: I’m trying to load up the computer. The computer is slow. I’m downstairs, but the patient is upstairs with the nurse. So kind of bear with me.’
Staff also failed to notify 911 that first responders were already on the scene; it was only after a string of calls that one of the operators noticed how many calls had been made from the location.
By the morning of September 14, the patients were being evacuated, but over the coming weeks there would be six more deaths.
Of those, only Francesca Andrade and Constance Alice Thomas would be ruled as being unconnected to the air conditioning disaster.
In an October statement, Justin Senior, secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, said the nursing home had ‘failed its residents multiple times throughout this horrifying ordeal.’
‘It is unfathomable that a medical professional would not know to call 911 immediately in an emergency situation,’ he said.
‘The facility also entered late entries into medical records claiming safe temperatures for patients while those same patients were across the street dying in the emergency room with temperatures of over 108 degrees Fahrenheit.’
Carlos Canal (left) and Gail Nova (right) also passed away. They are seen, like many of the deceased here, in undated photographs
Dolores Biamonte (left) was 57 when she died – the youngest of the alleged homicides. Carolyn Eatherly (seen right, on the left of the picture) also passed away