Hot cereal feeding could lead to homicide charges

PhillyBurbs.com
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Levittown - Montgomery County authorities are investigating whether homicide charges are warranted in the death of an elderly Hatfield Township man who died just two weeks after he was severely burned from being fed scalding hot cereal by an aide at a geriatric facility.The county coroner's office Monday filed a petition in court to exhume the body of the 79-year-old man who died last Oct. 23.The private physician of the man, who was non-communicative, bedridden and suffering from end-stage Alzheimer's dementia when he died at home under hospice care, certified that the man's death from malnutrition was the result of natural causes, specifically "Alzheimer's dementia."As a result, county Coroner Dr. Walter I. Hofman states in his petition, the death was not reported to the coroner's office and there was no opportunity for an autopsy before burial.However, Hofman said, he was notified in January by the district attorney's office about its ongoing investigation of the abuse incident.Based on information received from law enforcement authorities and his own review of the victim's medical records, Hofman in April issued a coroner's death certificate that lists a dual cause of death - complications following burns of oral mucosa, tongue and throat and Alzheimer's dementia.Hofman now wants to exhume the man's body to further document the nature and extent of the burn injuries."If the coroner determines (the victim's) death is a result of the October incident, then that is a homicide and we will pursue it," said county Assistant District Attorney Bradford A. Richman, who heads his office's elder abuse prosecution unit."An autopsy will provide us with evidence to prosecute the responsible people," said Richman.Alvador Thompson, the now-former nurse's aide, was arrested last December on charges stemming from the Oct. 8 scalding incident.Thompson, 55, of the 2900 block of Walnut Street, Hatfield Township, is charged with aggravated assault, neglect of care-dependent person, simple assault and recklessly endangering. She remains free on bail while awaiting a repeatedly postponed preliminary hearing.The victim's family members, including his widow, have consented to the exhumation while requesting that Hatfield Township police Detective John A. Ciarlello, who spearheaded the investigation, be present during the autopsy, the coroner's petition stated.No date has been set for court action on the coroner's petition.The alleged abuse incident happened on Oct. 8 while the man, who was totally dependent on others for his care, was a patient at Cambridge Brightfield Personal Care and Hospice in the 1800 block of Walnut Street in Hatfield Township.The man, who was receiving hospice care, suffered significant burns to his lips, tongue and throat after Thompson fed him hot cereal, according to the criminal complaint.One witness told authorities she recalled seeing the man attempting to push the cup of hot cereal away from his mouth that morning, the complaint said.Thompson, who was hired at the facility in March 2008 and reportedly received on-the-job training concerning the proper feeding of residents, did not report the incident or seek medical treatment for the man following the incident, the complaint said.A facility supervisor, noticing later that morning what initially appeared to be a torn and infected upper lip on that patient, asked Thompson if she knew how the man received the injury. Thompson replied that she did not, according to the complaint.By noon that same day, the man's lip was blistered and swollen and he was subsequently taken to Central Montgomery Medical Center where he was admitted for treatment.Police were contacted the following day by the victim's daughter, who reported the burn injury.Visiting the hospital on Oct. 10, Ciarlello said in the complaint that he personally observed severe burns and blistering on the man's upper and lower lips and tongue.During the course of the investigation, one supervisor alleged that Thompson "would manhandle the residents when transporting them and be rough with them," the criminal complaint said.The man later was released from the hospital and went home where he continued with hospice care, according to authorities.Margaret Gibbons can be reached at 610-279-6153 or mgibbons@phillyBurbs.com.
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