Nurse charged in death of H.R. McMaster's father
PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has announced charges in the death of former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster's father.
MORE: Philadelphia police investigate death of H.R. McMaster's father as 'suspicious'
The family of Lieutenant Colonel H.R. McMaster Sr. describes him as a tough and compassionate soldier and public servant. A soldier who the Pa. Attorney General says did not have to die in a Philadelphia nursing home alone after a fall. The Attorney General says Christann Gainey a "contract nurse" at Cathedral Village is at fault.
"Gainey could have saved Mr. McMaster's life had she simply done her job," Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a news conference Thursday.
30-year-old Gainey who is a city resident is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of McMaster Sr.--the father of former Trump Administration National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster Jr.
Shapiro says 84-year-old McMaster Sr. entered the nursing home in early April after suffering a stroke. Three days later, he was found on the floor of his room from a fall. He died the next day in a lobby sitting in a wheelchair.
Shapiro alleges Gainey failed to perform the required checks of her patient and then lied about it.
He spoke of McMaster's family.
"They don't expect their loved one to be found dead in a lobby of a place that was supposed to care for them," Shapiro said.
Cathedral Village is owned by Presbyterian Senior Living, which is a York County, Pa. based operator of 30 senior facilities across the Mid-Atlantic. It claims it provides supportive, innovative and compassionate care. An attorney for McMaster's widow who has filed notice of a potential civil lawsuit believes the issue is much larger than a "contract nurse" working the night shift.
"These things don't happen in a vacuum. There's a person or a company or persons who allow the environment to be built that this kind of thing could happen," Marty Kardon who is an attorney for the McMaster family said.
FOX 29 repeatedly asked Shapiro if he would hold company executives responsible for McMaster's passing.
"You've asked that question a couple of times and I've already answered it. As it relates to the facility, the Department of Health will have to address your question since it relates to the overall criminal investigation that is ongoing," Shapiro said.