A Pennsylvania counselor was charged with manslaughter Tuesday in the heat death of a 20-year-old autistic man left for hours in a hot van, but her lawyer said many people share in the blame.
Stacey Strauss, 40, of Philadelphia was arraigned on a felony neglect charge and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. According to court papers, Strauss denied being assigned to care for Bryan Nevins on an outing the day of his death.
Nevins was found dead in the rear seat of a scorching hot van about five hours after a small group returned July 24 to Woods Services, a residential treatment program in suburban Philadelphia. The temperatures that day reached 97 degrees.
Strauss had called a supervisor from a nearby amusement park that morning to say Nevins was causing problems, biting himself and trying to bite another client, the police affidavit states. She was told the group should return home. They returned to the Langhorne campus from Sesame Place at about 12:30 p.m.
Strauss, who was driving the van, told authorities she was only responsible for one client while the other counselor on the trip was responsible for the other three. But her supervisor told police she had assigned Strauss to watch Nevins and a second client.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=7590269
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