AUSTIN (KXAN) — A grand jury has indicted the managing company of an assisted living facility — as well as two former staff members — in connection with the death of Cynthia Pierce, 73, during the 2021 winter storm.
According to the Travis County District Attorney's Office, employees at Renaissance Austin Assisted Living "failed to promptly move and transport an elderly and disabled resident of the facility... to a warmer area within the facility that was readily available," when the power went out during the storm.
The statement also said Pierce was left "in an unheated room with the windows open." She was taken to the hospital and died of hypothermia.
In a statement, Sam Bassett, the attorney representing former employees Mendi Ramsay and Rochelle Alvarado said "it was through no fault of their own, and certainly no crime was committed," and his clients will plead not guilty. He said Ramsay's and Alvarado's hearts go out to the Pierce family.
"The indictment returned by the grand jury alleges that the staff's criminal negligence by omission resulted in bodily injury to Mrs. Pierce," the DA's office said.
But Bassett said the storm was an unprecedented weather event for the state.
"During this investigation, my clients accurately recounted extraordinary measures that they and their staff took to ensure resident safety during this event," Bassett said.
Joshua Saegert, the attorney representing Harvest Renaissance-Austin, LLC, which operated the nursing home in 2021, said he is "aware that charges have been filed against the company and its former employees regarding an event that occurred during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the resident, and we will continue to work with local authorities."
According to the attorney representing the victim's family, the current facility appears to be under new ownership.
In May 2021, KXAN's Avery Travis spoke with Pierce's family, who said they were never alerted of any issues at the assisted living facility, and they would have picked Pierce up if they would have known there was a power outage.
“Her body temperature was 94 degrees when she got to the hospital,” said Elyse Yates, Pierce's niece, at the time. “She’d frozen to death, and that was devastating.”
In January 2024, the DA's office received a complaint about this case from attorneys representing the family on the civil side. From there, the office said it worked with the Austin Police Department to bring the matter before a grand jury in July.
The former employees charged are expected to be in court next week.
