ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The medical examiner has ruled the death of a disabled woman a homicide.
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Eyewitness News has uncovered state documents showing issues with care and questions over the timeline of how this was investigated and reported.
29-year-old Francine Thomas was being cared for by 56-year-old Deborah Hodge in her Orlando group home.
Last July, Thomas was found dead, and state records show Hodge never reported the death, even though it’s required by state law.
Read: Caretaker accused of kidnapping intellectually challenged patient from another group home
Eyewitness News went by the group home Tuesday after receiving the autopsy report. That is where a man who spoke highly about the care Hodge provided. He did not provide his name.
“She cared about the girls; that’s all,” he said.
Pierre Mondesire lives next door and is a former caregiver.
Read: Caretaker accused of taking disabled patient charged, appears in court
“I never suspected (anything),” Mondesire said.
Thomas’s autopsy report reveals she had been given toxic levels of an anti-depressant and a stimulant, which doctors determined only a caregiver could have administered, and that’s what killed her.
“It’s bad,” Mondesire said. “It’s bad.”
Channel 9 only found out about Thomas’s death because her sister was also in Hodge’s care.
Records obtained show the state agency for persons with disabilities removed Thomas’ sister from Hodge’s care because Hodge hadn’t reported Thomas’s death.
In the six months leading up to the death, state records show the state agency never went in the home to check on patients or view medical records, indicating Hodge refused to let them in.
Then in October, investigators said Hodge tracked down Thomas’s sister and carried out a plot to remove her from the new facility where the state had placed her.
Mondesire said the agency should have done more to protect the young women.
“You need to make them feel very protected and cared for as their caregiver,” Mondesire said.
Right now, Hodge is only facing charges in the case where police say she took Thomas’s sister.
It wasn’t until after Thomas died that the agency finally completed a wellness check. It found broken lights, AC, unsanitary living conditions, and barely any food in the home.
As of now, no arrest has been made for the homicide.
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