Employees from a Florida nursing home charged with manslaughter aggravated upon the deaths of patients during Hurricane Irma



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Four employees of a nursing home in Florida, where 12 patients died after Hurricane Irma was put on blood in 2017, were arrested Monday and are the object of the attack. Aggravated manslaughter charges, according to lawyers related to the case.

Althia Meggie, 36, of Broward County, went to the police around noon on Monday after Meggie and three other employees were informed last week that "charges were being laid,

Althia Meggie, 36, of Broward County, went to the police Monday to Monday after last week Meggie and three other employees were informed that "charges were being laid," her lawyer told Fox News. in the case and would have been one of those who surrendered to the authorities.
(Broward County Sheriff's Office)

Althia Meggie, 36, of Broward County, went to police on Monday around noon after three other employees and herself were informed last week that "charges had been laid," said the lawyer. from Meggie, Lawrence Hashish, to Fox News.

DEATH OF A HOUSE OF NURSING IN FLORIDA DURING A HOMICIDE HURRICANE RULES BY IRMA

He added that Meggie, who was a day-to-day nurse at the Florida Nursing Center and that she had been asked to work because of a shortage of employees in the facility after the ## 147 ## 39, hurricane, has been charged with two counts of aggravated manslaughter and two heads of modification making evidence.

Lawyers for the accused, Lawrence Hashish, center, David Frankel, right, and paralegal Juliana Marulanda, at Broward County Jail on Monday.

Lawyers for the accused, Lawrence Hashish, center, David Frankel, right, and paralegal Juliana Marulanda, at Broward County Jail on Monday.
(AP Photo / Brynn Anderson)

Three of the four accused surrendered to the Hollywood police on Monday, Hashish said. He said that some will face up to 12 counts of manslaughter. All four were employed by the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center at the time of the deaths.

Hashish said that the fourth person charged in this case was a nurse he did not represent and who was detained in Miami-Dade County. The arrest records confirmed that the nurse, aged 31, was behind bars in this county and had been charged with aggravated manslaughter and falsification of evidence. The North Miami Beach Police Department arrested him on Saturday on a warrant issued in Broward County, Fox News told Miami-Dade Police.

The Hollywood police did not immediately respond to Fox News's request for comment.

Ambulance attendants carrying a woman from the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center after a loss of air conditioning due to Hurricane Irma in Hollywood, Florida in September 2017.

Ambulance attendants carrying a woman from the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center after a loss of air conditioning due to Hurricane Irma in Hollywood, Florida in September 2017.
(Amy Beth Bennett / Sun-Sentinel from South Florida via AP, File)

Patients began to die a few days after Hurricane Irma hit the area in September 2017, causing a breakdown of electricity at the rest home.

Twelve of these deaths were suspected homicides due to heat exposure, and two others died from non-heat causes, The Sun Sentinel reported.

Investigators said facility workers did not evacuate patients as indoor temperatures began to increase, even though a fully functional hospital was on the other side. from the street.

Police at the south entrance of the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center, where the locals died, in September 2017.

Police at the south entrance of the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center, where the locals died, in September 2017.
(Charles Trainor Jr./Miami Herald via AP, File)

One of the patients had a temperature of 107.5 degrees, according to fire warden Amy Parrinello of the Hollywood Fire-Rescue, who added that it was the highest level that was found. she has never seen in 12 years of career. Parrinello said that another patient had a temperature so high that it could not be measured.

The nursing home license was suspended several days after the storm and was subsequently closed.

The former house administrator, Jorge Carballo, aged 62, was also indicted and reportedly one of three employees who surrendered to the authorities on Monday. He faces 12 counts of manslaughter, according to court records. The other nurse who went to the Hollywood police on Monday also faces 12 counts of manslaughter, according to court records.

Carballo's lawyer, James Cobb, did not immediately respond to Fox News' request, but told the Associated Press that his clients and other directors had been informed several times before storm that they could call at the time. The personal cell phone of Rick Scott for help. Cobb said that they had called five times but that they had never heard from them again. Scott, a Republican, is now a senator.

Report says voicemails are issued from a retirement home where patients are dying, removed from the Florida Governor's phone

Cobb reportedly said the administrators "sit there waiting for the cavalry to arrive. … they never came. "

In a statement, Scott said the retirement home should have called 911.

"Nothing hides the fact that this health facility has failed in its fundamental duty to protect life," he said. "We have taken steps in Florida to protect our most vulnerable people, including by asking all nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have backup power, so to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.

Lawyers Lawrence Hashish, left, David Frankel, right, and paralegal Juliana Marulanda, center, entering Broward County Jail on Monday.

Lawyers Lawrence Hashish, left, David Frankel, right, and paralegal Juliana Marulanda, center, entering Broward County Jail on Monday.
(AP Photo / Brynn Anderson)

Hashish told Fox News "that no crime has been committed", adding that his client "had neglected none of his patients".

"My client and the people with whom she worked were occupying residents in natural disaster conditions created by Hurricane Irma, no one could have anticipated the tragedy and, as always, the recoil is 20/20, "said Hashish. "The real crime is that the state is trying to blame the altruistic caregivers. The evidence will show that no crime has been committed. "

He added, "If the Hollywood police thought it was a fault, they would have filed a complaint 22 months ago, so we are surprised at the timing of it."

Hashish has announced that his client, another nurse and Carballo will make their first court appearance Tuesday in Broward County. They were held without bail under the charges of manslaughter.

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Hashish said he would ask the judge to set a bond for his client on Tuesday.

Nicole Darrah, Fox News, and Associated Press contributed to this report.

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