3 people turn themselves in to face charges in Florida nursing home deaths during Hurricane Irma
/ AP
Three people turned themselves in Monday to face charges in the case of a Florida nursing home where 12 patients died after its air conditioning power went out amid sweltering heat following Hurricane Irma in 2017, their attorneys said. Two of the people who turned themselves in were nurses at the facility.
A total of four people employed at Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills at the time of the 2017 deaths were to be charged, including a third nurse, attorneys Jim Cobb and Lawrence Hashish told The Associated Press. They were not sure if the third nurse, who was not represented by the two lawyers, had turned herself in.

FILE PHOTO: Police tape surrounds the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills in Hollywood, Florida, U.S., September 13, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
Cobb and Hashish also said they were uncertain what charge their clients faced but expected it to be manslaughter. Hollywood Police, who are responsible for issuing the arrest warrants, did not respond to multiple emails and voice messages from the AP.
Patients began dying days after Irma swept through, knocking out power at the home. Investigators said the center did not evacuate patients as temperatures inside began rising, even though a fully functional hospital was across the street. The home’s license was suspended days after the storm and it was later closed.
Cobb’s client, former home administrator Jorge Caballo, said he and other administrators were repeatedly told before the storm that they could call Governor Rick Scott’s personal cellphone directly for help. Cobb said they called five times but never heard back from Scott.
Cobb said the administrators “sat there languishing waiting for the Calvary to come. … They never ever came.” Hashish remarked that “the real crime is that the state is looking to blame selfless caregivers and the evidence will show that no crime was committed.”