Family of autistic man who died at group home sues staffing agency, trio accused of killing him

The family of Edward Ware, a 36-year-old autistic man who died at a group home in 2021, has filed a lawsuit against the staffing agency that hired the three people accused of killing him. In addition to the lawsuit, the employees Katherine Hair, Terrance Nelson and Derrick Coley are also facing manslaughter charges. A screen grab from this video shows the trio holding Ware down for more than four minutes. (Screengrab: The Haggard Law Firm; Ware photo: Obituary)

The family of a 36-year-old autistic man who died by suffocation at a group home in North Miami in 2021 is suing the staffing agency that hired the three people accused of killing him.

Three staff members restrained Edward Ware at a group home called Family Tree Concept on Dec. 21, 2021. A video shows a female staff member grabbing Ware, seemingly unprovoked, and she, along with two others, wrestle with Ware for about four minutes in an apparent attempt to restrain him. Ware then goes limp, and the staff attempts CPR and calls 911.

Ware’s family filed a lawsuit against Care Assist Home Care Inc., which provided staffing to the group home, along with the three staff members involved: Katherine Hair, Terrance Nelson and Derrick Coley. Hair, Nelson and Cooley are facing criminal manslaughter charges in a case that’s ongoing.

While the tussle was going on, Ware was on the phone with his father, Edward Taylor.

“At the time of his murder, I was on speakerphone, talking to my son,” Taylor told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. “The last memory I have of him is hearing the caretakers wrestle him to the floor and hearing him take his last breath.”

Taylor entrusted the facility and its staff members to properly care for his son, but instead, they “strangled and suffocated” Ware to the point that he died, the wrongful death and negligence lawsuit says. Care Assist Home Care Inc. had a duty to screen the employees it was sending to the group home, pointing out that Hair had a criminal history, court documents said. All three were unqualified and not competent to perform their necessary tasks, according to the lawsuit.

“Had Care Assist Home Care Inc. hired contractors who were competent, qualified, and not careless, Edward Ware would not have been abused, neglected and strangled, and he would not have passed away,” the lawsuit said.

Taylor described his son as the light of his life.

“Edward was only 36 when he was brutally murdered by people who were supposed to be caring for him,” he said.

Attorneys for the staffing agency and the individuals named in the lawsuit either did not return calls or declined comment.

The video, released by the Miami-Dade State’s Attorney’s Office when it announced criminal charges in the case and by the Ware family attorney, has no sound, but Taylor described what he heard on the other line in a previous interview with local ABC affiliate WPLG.

“The next thing I heard was the girl say, ‘Hold him to the mat,”” Taylor said. “All of a sudden, it was a quick silence. Then the girl got back on the phone and told me that he’ll call me right back.”

Ware was later pronounced dead. At a press conference announcing manslaughter charges against the trio, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said it appeared the staff did not have training on how to deal with people with mental health issues and were not using proper techniques. It caused her to create a group to investigate crimes against the elderly and the vulnerable.

“What should be done? Is it a training issue? Is it a staff qualification? It’s an example of an area that needs to be looked into,” she said.

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Family of autistic man who died at group home sues staffing agency, trio accused of killing him

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Family of autistic man who died at group home sues staffing agency, trio accused of killing him

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