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Assisted living facility's managers indicted in man's death

Posted at 1:43 PM, Aug 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-15 16:43:48-04

PHOENIX (AP) - A married couple who operate a Chandler home-based assisted living facility are charged with vulnerable adult abuse in the death of a 69-year-old man who spent two days without air conditioning last summer.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office announced Thursday that 56-year-olds Joseph Somera and Lolita Somera were indicted Monday in the resident's death.

The office said the air conditioning failed Aug. 16, 2018 and that Lolita Somera called 911 two days later to report that the man was non-responsive.

According to the office, the temperature in the man's room was 100 degrees and medical examiners determined that environmental heat exposure contributed to the man's death from end-stage renal disease complicated by acute pneumonia.

Court records don't list attorneys for the Someras who could comment on the accusation.