KENOSHA, Wis. — Three employees at Kenosha's Parkside Manor assisted living facility have been charged in connection with the death of Helen Ende, a memory care resident at Parkside Manor who froze to death outside the building in December of 2022.
The three defendants, Liliana Lozano, Demontae Collins, and Susan Valentin, were all charged with recklessly abusing patients causing death, according to a criminal complaint.
When an exterior door alarm went off at about 12:40 a.m. on December 19th, 2022 at Parkside, the criminal complaint says the three employees did not respond to the sound for 28 minutes.
When they did eventually respond to the alarm, prosecutors say that video evidence shows none of them fully opened the door to see if anyone was outside. Ende, who was known to wander around Parkside, was later found dead outside the same door.
Prosecutors argue the defendants' neglect, and failure to perform regular 1-2 hour checks on all residents, directly led to Ende's death:
"Had these checks been done Mrs. Ende would have been found to not be in her room," the complaint reads. "None of the defendants contacted management after the alarm went off. None of the defendants checked the outside of the facility. None of the defendants wrote a report about the fire alarm sounding."
Milwaukee attorney Benjamin Wagner is representing the Ende family and Helen Ende's estate. They're seeking a claim for wrongful death, pain and suffering, and punitive damages.
The case is in the discovery process.
"(The family) has belief in the justice system, both criminal and civil," Wagner said.
If convicted, Lozano, Collins, and Valentin all face up to 40 years in prison.
Watch our original report on this story from December of 2022:
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