SLAP ON THE WRIST

Chicago Nursing Home Owner Fined Just $1,500 for 3 Heatwave Deaths

The owner of the James Sneider Apartments senior home kept the heat on as temperatures soared into the 90s outside.

The owner of the James Sneider Apartments senior home in Chicago has been fined just $1,500 after three residents died on May 14 because the building kept the heat on during a heatwave. The autopsy reports for all three women—Janice Reed, 68, Gwendolyn Osborne, 72, and Delores McNeely, 76—indicated that they died from “environmental heat exposure due to hot residential building during heat-related weather event.” The fines, reached via settlement, stemmed from about 11 code violations discovered in the aftermath of the deaths in the 90-degree heatwave, including an air conditioning unit on the roof that “does not appear suitable for exterior use,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Buildings Department reportedly did not have the autopsies when they reached the settlement with the owner, the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told the outlet that their probe “was concluded as non-criminal.”