Abuse Allegation in Texas

Courthouse News Service reports:

The year after Texas promised the U.S. Justice Department it would end abuses at its state-run homes for the disabled, a state employee beat an autistic man to death in a state care center, where nurses failed to check his vital signs for two days "as he lay dying from internal injuries," the man's parents say.

Larry Taylor and Pamela Varnell sued the Richmond State Supported Living Center in Federal Court on behalf of the estate of their son David Taylor.

The Richmond State Supported Living Center aka The Richmond State School is one of 13 such facilities operated in Texas by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services.

...

"Due to his disability and his resulting inability to communicate, David was unable to complain to anyone if he was being abused or neglected, or whether or not he needed medical treatment."

His parents seek damages under the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The late David Taylor was born prematurely at 26 weeks, and his disabilities were so severe "he never learned to speak or to communicate in any reliable way," his parents say. He was diagnosed with "severe autism and profound mental retardation," and admitted to the Richmond State School when he was 22 years old.