Holly Ferguson holds a family photo of her mother, Cynthia Pierce, alongside several family members. Pierce, who lived at an assisted living facility in Northwest Austin, died of hypothermia during the February 2021 winter storm. She was 73.
Rodolfo Gonzalez for American-Statesman
Early last month, Travis County District Attorney José Garza issued a news release touting the indictment of three defendants accused of allowing 73-year-old Cynthia Pierce to freeze to death during 2021’s historic winter storm.
The corporate owners of the Renaissance Austin, an assisted living center in Great Hills, and two of its former employees, were now facing felony charges after staff allegedly failed to notify state regulators of a power outage as temperatures plunged inside the facility, to move residents to a warmer place, and alert families to the rapidly deteriorating conditions.
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The Travis County medical examiner’s office building
Austin American-Statesman
Tours of the new office of the Travis County Medical Examiner were held Wednesday afternoon October 11, 2017 to showcase a state-of-the-art facility that will serve Central Texas.
RALPH BARRERA / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Austin American-Statesman
The indictments were a big win for Garza, who a week after the storm vowed to hold “powerful actors accountable” for the harm it caused. But an American-Statesman investigation found they could have come far sooner if not for a series of missteps across multiple law enforcement agencies.
The newspaper found that three entities — the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office, the Austin Police Department and Garza’s office itself — had the opportunity to uncover what happened to Pierce shortly after her death.
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The opportunity to seek swift justice for Pierce and her family was initially derailed just weeks after her death when the medical examiner ruled her death an accident, a misstep that experts said effectively barred law enforcement agencies from pursuing criminal charges.
But the Statesman also found that police and prosecutors had ample reason to question that determination. And, at least in Garza’s case, the legal power to conduct his own investigation.
Cristie Purple, who investigated Renaissance’s handling of the storm for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, told the Statesman in a recent interview that she was so alarmed by what she found that she contacted Austin police directly while her investigation was still unfolding.
“I was trying every way I could to get my notes into the right hands,” Purple said. “I felt very strongly that Cynthia Pierce died of negligent homicide.”
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Purple’s investigative report, published in March 2021, was limited to health code violations but also included damning details about the conditions at the facility where Pierce lived and questionable decision-making by staff during the storm.
Three years later, an attorney representing Pierce’s family in a civil lawsuit stumbled on the report and found it so compelling that he sent it to the medical examiner’s office, which changed Pierce’s manner of death to homicide.
That cleared the way for Austin police to reopen their investigation and Garza’s office to present evidence to a grand jury. Among the evidence that convinced the panel to indict: Personal testimony from Purple, who has since left the state health department.
The three agencies declined the Statesman’s requests to interview top officials about how they handled the Pierce case, and did not respond to detailed written questions. Prepared statements sent by agency spokespeople did not dispute the Statesman’s findings.
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“I feel sad for the family,” Purple said. “It should not have taken them this long to get peace. They should have been able to put this issue to rest years ago.”
‘A brilliant eccentric’
Pierce’s daughter, Holly Ferguson, remembered her mother as “a brilliant eccentric.” As a single mother in the early 1980s, Pierce earned a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas and went on to work in the oil-and-gas industry.
“If anyone dared to tell her she couldn’t do something, she was the type to say, ‘Oh, excuse me, sit down while I go and do it,’” Ferguson said.
Pierce, who was facing cognitive decline as a result of an earlier spinal infection, exhibited that willfulness in 2018 when she insisted on moving home to Austin.
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At the time, she lived at an independent living facility in Fort Worth, just miles from Ferguson. But Pierce felt that living in a more familiar place would boost her confidence and help sustain her independence.
“Mom felt that Austin was her home,” Ferguson said.
After an exhaustive search, the family settled on the Renaissance facility in the Great Hills area of North Austin.
They were all drawn to it, Ferguson recalled, because of the property’s natural beauty – it was surrounded by a series of limestone bluffs and boasted a vegetable garden – and because the interior of the facility felt more homey than institutional. The property also had a small guest house — a historic structure built from locally mined limestone — that visitors could stay in.
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In October 2019, Pierce moved in.
Cynthia Pierce
Rodolfo Gonzalez for American-St, Austin American-Statesman
While her happiness took a dip during the pandemic, Ferguson said they were satisfied with the care she received at the facility. Then came the winter storm.
Ferguson recalled talking to her mother by phone frequently as the entire state — and much of the North American continent — plunged into a deep freeze. The last time the two spoke was Feb. 16. The next day, Ferguson received a phone call from an emergency room nurse asking whether her mother had a do not resuscitate order.
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She died later that day but it would take years for authorities to investigate her death as a crime.
A death misclassified
A day after Pierce’s death, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission received an anonymous complaint against the Renaissance that said the facility had been without power for days, that backup generators were only working sporadically, and that a resident had been taken to the hospital.
Purple, one of the state agency’s top investigators, was assigned to the case.
When Purple arrived on-site Feb. 20 to begin her investigation, the power was back on and all seemed normal.
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Residents milled about the lobby while nurses buzzed from room to room. Staff at the front desk even acted “nonchalant” after Purple identified herself as a state investigator who was there to look into allegations of neglect during the storm.
But Purple’s impression started to shift when Pierce’s doctors and family told her that the staff’s given reason for Pierce’s death — vaginal hemorrhaging — was not an issue at the time.
Renaissance Austin, the assisted living community where Cynthia Pierce lived, pictured in 2021. The facility, located on Taylor Draper Lane in North Austin, was recently sold to Fort Worth-based Sagora Senior Living and now operates under the name Asher Point Senior Living of Austin.
RENAISSANCE AUSTIN
The misrepresentation immediately raised Purple’s suspicions. Then the shocking revelations quickly began to pile up.
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Purple soon learned that Pierce’s window had been left open overnight; that residents weren’t moved to warmer hallways from rooms where temperatures had fallen to 48 degrees; that the facility’s emergency generator didn’t power all buildings; and that families weren’t informed of the worsening conditions.
“I couldn’t believe what I was learning,” Purple recalled.
Typically, Purple’s inquiries were limited to health code violations that carry fines and civil penalties. But prior experience taught her that sometimes more nefarious conduct lurked beneath the surface, and she was convinced that was the case here.
Purple said she contacted Austin police from the scene and asked that a homicide detective come to the facility. One showed up and spent hours with Purple combing through her findings.
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She also recalled repeatedly calling the medical examiner’s office to ascertain how the officials might designate Pierce’s manner of death. That’s because she was concerned that if it was ruled an accident, law enforcement would not be able to formally open a criminal investigation.
But the medical examiner’s office showed little interest, Purple said. Within days, Deputy Medical Examiner Lauren Edelman ruled Pierce’s death accidental.
Tours of the new office of the Travis County Medical Examiner were held Wednesday afternoon October 11, 2017 to showcase a state-of-the-art facility that will serve Central Texas.
RALPH BARRERA / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Austin American-Statesman
In interviews, Purple and Ferguson said they had preliminary discussions with Austin police about a potential criminal investigation but the Police Department wouldn’t say if they ever opened one.
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Purple said she had one more conversation with the homicide detective in which he asked for her case notes, but her supervisors barred her from doing so. Purple told the detective he would have to obtain them by filing a public information request.
Representatives for the Police Department and medical examiner’s office declined the Statesman’s interview requests to discuss the Pierce case and did not answer written questions.
Jennifer Ruffcorn, a spokesperson for the state health commission that employed Purple, also declined to arrange an interview with agency officials and did not respond to written questions. In a statement, Ruffcorn said the commission levied $5,000 in fines against the Renaissance as a result of Purple’s investigation, which identified several severe and sustained violations.
(The facility, located on Taylor Draper Lane, was recently sold to Fort Worth-based Sagora Senior Living and now operates under the name Asher Point Senior Living of Austin.)
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As for Pierce’s death, Ruffcorn said commission investigators cooperated fully with law enforcement on the matter. Her statement also noted the agency had notified the Police Department and Travis County Sheriff’s Office about the fatality.
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kristen Dark said the agency had no record of an investigation into Pierce’s death. She added that she could not search the office’s records system to determine if the commission had shared Purple’s report with the office. If they had, she said office personnel would have referred the case to the Police Department.
Purple said none of the agencies contacted her for additional information, even as media outlets reported on her findings.
“My job was to protect elderly residents and we failed as a government to protect this woman,” Purple said. “The authorities I contacted could have done more. I gave them all that I had.”
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Nearly three years went by before the agencies would act again.
Years of silence
In early 2023, the Pierce family sued the Renaissance’s corporate owner in civil court for gross negligence.
While working on the case later that year family attorney Scott Hendler obtained Purple’s report through an open records request. He told the Statesman he found it so compelling that he contacted the medical examiner’s office and also filed a complaint with the Public Integrity and Complex Crimes division at the District Attorney’s Office.
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Weeks later, Edelman — the deputy medical examiner — amended the initial autopsy report to change the manner of Pierce’s death from “accident” to “homicide.”
In a brief explanation for the amendment, Edelman wrote that she modified the report after obtaining new information from the state health commission, the Police Department, Austin/Travis County EMS, and the Austin Fire Department.
Hendler said Edelman’s office indicated to him that it had not previously seen Purple’s report prior to him sharing it with them. Through a Travis County spokesperson, Edelman declined an interview request for this story.
What exactly unfolded next is unclear, but according to information from Garza’s office, the Police Department launched — or relaunched — an investigation into Pierce’s death at some point after Edelman revised the manner of death.
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Garza’s prosecutors presented the results of that investigation to a grand jury earlier this year, in May.
Two months later, the panel indicted the Renaissance’s corporate owner, Harvest Renaissance LLC, along with Executive Director Mendi Ramsay and Wellness Director Rochelle Alvarado, on charges of injury to an elderly person — a second-degree felony.
Among the evidence that convinced the panel to hand down indictments: In-person testimony from Purple.
Attorney Samuel Bassett, who is representing Ramsay and Alvarado, declined the Statesman’s interview request but sent a statement that said his clients cooperated fully during the investigation and that “though the passing of one of their residents was tragic, it was through no fault of their own and certainly no crime was committed.”
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Harvest attorney Joshua Saegert also declined an interview and sent a statement that acknowledged the charges.
“Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the resident, and we will continue to work with local authorities,” the statement said.
Experts: A systemic breakdown
It remains unclear why Edelman initially ruled Pierce’s death an accident, but legal experts said that is what likely doomed the case from the start.
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“It would be unusual for law enforcement to open an investigation that ignores the medical examiner’s finding,” said Richard Alpert, a former Tarrant County prosecutor. “That would be quite an obstacle for detectives to clear, because if the case ever made it to trial, the Medical Examiner would essentially become a resource witness for the defense.”
Robert Kepple, the former head of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, said district attorneys have the authority to launch their own investigations and can issue subpoenas through the grand jury — a powerful tool that can compel testimony to help investigators build a case. But, Kepple said, prosecutors rarely run their own investigations without law enforcement support.
“Normally prosecutors rely on agencies like the Texas Rangers or Austin police to bring them evidence,” he said. “It can be hard for them to go completely on their own.”
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza speaks at a news conference at Austin City Hall about the 1991 I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt murder investigation on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
A week after the winter storm, Garza — who had just taken office a month prior — announced he was launching a criminal investigation into “the events that led to” the crisis and vowed to “hold powerful actors accountable whose actions or inactions may have led to the suffering.”
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The exact target and scope of that probe remains unclear, though at the time it seemed possibly aimed at the state’s power grid operator. It is also not clear if Garza ever used the grand jury to issue subpoenas. Asked about the progress of the investigation in January, Garza told the Statesman the work continued and that his office “may have some updates in the near future.”
Garza declined an interview for this story but his spokesperson Ismael Martinez sent a statement that said prosecutors in September 2021 reviewed hypothermia-related deaths during the winter storm. That review included Pierce.
“At that time, her cause of death was determined to be accidental,” the statement said. “Our office re-examined the case after new information was provided at the beginning of 2024.”
A family’s loss
For Ferguson, the indictments came as relief.
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“Mom would have been horrified if something like this happened to one of her loved ones,” Ferguson said. “I know she would be proud of all the hard work that has gotten us to this point. She would feel vindicated.”
Still, Ferguson said the charges also served as a reminder of the years of inaction. And she said the family longs for a time when they can put the court battles behind them.
“It just never crossed my mind that so many awful mistakes would have been made that led to my mother’s death,” she said. “My mind just couldn’t go there.”
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Tony Plohetski and Skye Seipp contributed reporting