Attorneys: Charges expected in Florida nursing home deaths
Posted August 25, 2019 3:37 pm.
Last Updated August 25, 2019 4:21 pm.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Defence attorneys say arrests are expected in the case of a Florida nursing home where 12 patients died amid sweltering heat after air conditioning power was lost after a 2017 hurricane.
Attorney Lawrence Hashish told The Associated Press on Sunday that his client is among three nurses and an administrator expecting to be charged because of the deaths after Hurricane Irma in September that year. Irma knocked out power to the main air-conditioning unit at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, sending temperatures soaring .
Hashish says he doesn’t know any specific charges but expects it would likely involve some form of manslaughter. He called his client a scapegoat.
Twelve deaths at the centre had been ruled homicides , prompting a criminal investigation.
A voice message and email left for Hollywood Police weren’t immediately returned Sunday.
Kelli Kennedy, The Associated Press
