Charges Filed After 90-Year-Old Woman Dies From Hypothermia Outside Care Facility In Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - Three employees are facing charges in the death of Margarita Sam, a 90-year-old woman who wandered out of the Union Printers Home in Colorado Springs in February. Officers responded to a call and found Sam lying on a bench on the long term care facility's property at 101 South Union Boulevard.
Sam wandered outside the facility and became exposed to temperatures in the range of 23-30 degrees Fahrenheit. The El Paso County Coroner's Office determined she died of hypothermia.
According to KKTV, the assisted living facility had its license suspended about a week after May's death.
Now, criminal charges have been filed against three employees of the Union Printers Home long-term care facility related to her death.
Nurse Rosalie Warren, 52, was charged with negligent death of an at-risk person, a felony, and neglect of an at-risk person, a misdemeanor. Certified Nursing Assistant Asia Murray, 35, and Certified Nursing Assistant Taquenis Eldridge, 31, were charged with neglect of an at-risk person, a misdemeanor.
The Colorado Springs Police Department's Crimes Against At-Risk Adults Unit and the Colorado Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Colorado Attorney General's Office investigated the death.
The case will be prosecuted in the 4th Judicial District by the Attorney General's Office.
