Two nursing home directors were indicted for injury to an elderly person in Travis County related to the freezing death of a resident in 2021.
Harvest Renaissance – Austin, LLC’s Executive Director Mendi Ramsay and Wellness Director Rochelle Alvarado were indicted by a grand jury who found they were negligent when they failed to provide proper care for Cynthia Pierce, 73. The company as a whole was also charged.
Pierce, who was disabled, was in an unheated room with open windows during the historic Texas winter storm in 2021. An estimated 246 people died across 77 counties in a storm that was described as the worst natural disaster in Texas history. Millions across the state were left without power, as the state’s power grid failed.
Employees at the nursing home allegedly failed to move Pierce to another part of the building. The center also failed to notify the Texas Health and Human Services Commission that their power was out.
“The staff’s conduct was authorized by high-level managerial agents, specifically Mendi Ramsay or Rochelle Alvarado, acting on behalf of Harvest Renaissance-Austin, LLC, within the scope of their official duties, ” the district attorney’s office states.
Staff eventually rushed Pierce to a hospital, where she died of hypothermia.
Pierce’s daughter, Holly Ferguson issued a statement thanking the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and chided the nursing home.
“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,” she said.
In a statement to Austin NBC affiliate KXAN, Sam Bassett, the attorney representing Ramsay and Alvarado, said that Pierce’s death was not the fault of his clients and no crime was committed. His clients plan to enter pleas of not guilty and their hearts go out the Pierce family.
Joshua Saegert, attorney for Harvest, said that he was aware that charges had been filed regarding Pierce’s death, sent their thoughts to loved ones, and promised to work with local authorities.
Ramsay and Alvarado are scheduled to be in court on Wednesday.
