{"id":271062,"date":"2026-04-16T17:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271062\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:19:09","slug":"sacramento-disability-death-lawsuit-targets-city-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271062\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento disability death lawsuit targets city, county"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/in20the20courts20gavel20chyron20still20grab20frame20placeholder.jpeg\"   width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" title=\"\" alt=\"In the courts: Gavel silhouette\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The family of a Sacramento man with disabilities who was killed while under the care of a county provider has sued the city, Sacramento County and the state of California.<\/p>\n<p>Richard McClintic, 59, was killed Nov. 6, 2025, at his South Natomas apartment, according to the coroner\u2019s report, which listed the death as a homicide caused by asphyxiation, including smothering.<\/p>\n<p>McClintic, who had cerebral palsy, was in the care of a provider through Sacramento County\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pubauth.saccounty.gov\/\">In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority<\/a> at the time of his death, according to the lawsuit filed last week in Sacramento Superior Court by his sister.<\/p>\n<p>From August to November 2025, McClintic\u2019s provider blocked family members from entering the apartment on the 2000 block of San Juan Road to visit him, the suit alleged. Relatives contacted Sacramento police and the California Department of Social Services to request welfare checks, the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n<p>During a Nov. 6 welfare check, Sacramento police detectives executed a search warrant at the apartment and found McClintic\u2019s body inside, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/apps.sacpd.org\/Releases\/liveview.aspx?reference=20251110-072\">according to a department news release<\/a>. The provider, Christina Leona Cowens, 41, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful disposal of human remains, grand theft and attempting to conceal a death.<\/p>\n<p>After further investigation, Cowens was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/local\/crime\/article312865331.html\">charged with McClintic\u2019s murder<\/a> and additional fraud-related offenses, the release said.<\/p>\n<p>Officials from the city, county and state declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Other defendants \u2014 Alta California Regional Center, the Sacramento-based nonprofit agency that coordinates care for those with disabilities, and the Randall Group, the owner of the apartment complex \u2014 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The suit, filed April 7, claims negligence and wrongful death and seeks economic and non-economic damages.<\/p>\n<p>Cowens remained in the Sacramento County Jail, according to jail records. Her criminal case was ongoing, and her next court date was scheduled for July 9.<\/p>\n<p>        Related Stories from  Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/profile\/221348765\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Clift_Theresa.JPG\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Theresa Clift\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/profile\/221348765\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Theresa Clift<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n<p>            Theresa Clift is the Regional Watchdog Reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She covered Sacramento City Hall for The Bee from 2018 through 2024. Before joining The Bee, she worked for newspapers in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. She grew up in Michigan and graduated with a journalism degree from Central Michigan University.\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a Sacramento man with disabilities who was killed while under the care of a county&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-271062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}