Just as her jury trial was about to begin, the former administrator of a Madison Township assisted living facility accepted a plea deal for her role in an elderly resident’s death.
Alice Ramsey, 55, of Madison Township, was arrested last year following the Jan. 3, 2017, death of Mary Srpan, an 85-year-old resident of Hubbard Road Meadow.
Ramsey originally was indicted in Lake County Common Pleas Court on involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and three counts of patient abuse — charges that carry a combined maximum sentence of 18 1/2 years in prison.
Her trial on all five charges was expected to begin Jan. 8 before Judge Eugene A. Lucci.
Instead, Ramsey pleaded guilty to one count each of reckless homicide and patient abuse.
She now faces up to 4 1/2 years in prison when she is sentenced Jan. 17.
Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson called the plea “a satisfactory end to a truly tragic case.”
Defense attorney William Bobulsky was not immediately available for comment after the plea.
Ramsey remains free on a personal bond.
Involuntary manslaughter is the act of causing the death of another while committing a misdemeanor or felony.
Reckless homicide is creating a significant risk of bodily harm or death to another person with certain actions, or by failing to act. Patient abuse is committing an act that causes unreasonable suffering or harm to a patient, or by a failure to act.
Hubbard Road Meadow lost its license in March 2017.
According to officials with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services:
The victim was in her room banging to be heard the day of her death.
Visitors alerted staff, who tried to get into her room unsuccessfully and had to return to get keys. When employees returned, they saw the victim’s head wedged in a nightstand. Visitors helped free the woman, who later died at an emergency room.
ODMHAS officials said the facility had previous incidents of neglect, failure to report deaths and falls, and violations of hiring regulations.
Three of the four rooms furnished with bathtubs did not have the required nonskid surfaces in the tubs, according to an ODMHAS investigation.
In addition, required background checks were not completed on all employees, and there was no documentation verifying compliance with staff training requirements.
The ODMHAS investigation also found that residents were not given keys to their rooms, which had deadbolts that can be opened from the inside. This presented a danger of a resident with dementia accidentally locking themselves in their room — or being locked in the room by staff against their will.