historic winter storm<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-channels-pixel.ex.co\/events\/0012000001fxZm9AAE?integrationType=DEFAULT&template=design%2Farticle%2Fplatypus_one_column.tpl\")
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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.<\/p>\n
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![\"The]()
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The Travis County medical examiner\u2019s office building<\/p>\n
Austin American-Statesman![\"Tours]()
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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.
\n RALPH BARRERA \/ AMERICAN-STATESMAN<\/p>\n
Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
The indictments were a big win for\u00a0Garza, who a week after the storm vowed to hold \u201cpowerful actors accountable\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
The newspaper found that three entities \u2014 the Travis County Medical Examiner\u2019s office, the Austin Police Department and\u00a0Garza\u2019s office itself \u2014 had the opportunity to uncover what happened to Pierce shortly after her death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
But the Statesman also found that police and prosecutors had ample reason to question that determination. And, at least in\u00a0Garza\u2019s case, the legal power to conduct his own investigation.<\/p>\n
Cristie Purple, who investigated Renaissance\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying every way I could to get my notes into the right hands,\u201d Purple said. \u201cI felt very strongly that Cynthia Pierce died of negligent homicide.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Purple\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Three years later, an attorney representing Pierce\u2019s family in a civil lawsuit stumbled on the report and found it so compelling that he sent it to the medical examiner\u2019s office, which changed Pierce’s manner of death to homicide.<\/p>\n
That cleared the way for Austin police to reopen their investigation and Garza\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The three agencies declined the Statesman\u2019s 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\u2019s findings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cI feel sad for the family,\u201d Purple said. \u201cIt should not have taken them this long to get peace. They should have been able to put this issue to rest years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018A brilliant eccentric\u2019<\/p>\n
Pierce\u2019s daughter, Holly Ferguson, remembered her mother as \u201ca brilliant eccentric.\u201d As a single mother in the early 1980s, Pierce earned a master\u2019s degree in computer science from the University of Texas and went on to work in the oil-and-gas industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone dared to tell her she couldn\u2019t do something, she was the type to say, \u2018Oh, excuse me, sit down while I go and do it,\u2019\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom felt that Austin was her home,\u201d Ferguson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After an exhaustive search, the family settled on the Renaissance facility in the Great Hills area of North Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were all drawn to it, Ferguson recalled, because of the property\u2019s natural beauty \u2013 it was surrounded by a series of limestone bluffs and boasted a vegetable garden \u2013 and because the interior of the facility felt more homey than institutional. The property also had a small guest house \u2014 a historic structure built from locally mined limestone \u2014 that visitors could stay in.<\/p>\n
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In October 2019, Pierce moved in.<\/p>\n
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Cynthia Pierce<\/p>\n
Rodolfo Gonzalez for American-St, Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Ferguson recalled talking to her mother by phone frequently as the entire state \u2014 and much of the North American continent \u2014 plunged into a deep freeze. The last time the two spoke was\u00a0Feb. 16. The next day, Ferguson received a phone call from an emergency room nurse asking whether her mother had a do not resuscitate order.<\/p>\n
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She died later that day but it would take years for authorities to investigate her death as a crime.<\/p>\n
A death misclassified<\/p>\n
A day after Pierce\u2019s 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\u2019s top investigators, was assigned to the case.<\/p>\n
When Purple arrived on-site\u00a0Feb. 20 to begin her investigation, the power was back on and all seemed normal.<\/p>\n
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Residents milled about the lobby while nurses buzzed from room to room. Staff at the front desk even acted \u201cnonchalant\u201d after Purple identified herself as a state investigator who was there to look into allegations of neglect during the storm.<\/p>\n
But Purple\u2019s impression started to shift when Pierce\u2019s doctors and family told her that the staff’s given reason for Pierce\u2019s death \u2014 vaginal hemorrhaging \u2014 was not an issue at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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\u00a0Asher Point Senior Living of Austin.<\/p>\n
RENAISSANCE AUSTIN<\/p>\n
The misrepresentation immediately raised Purple\u2019s suspicions. Then the shocking revelations quickly began to pile up.<\/p>\n
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Purple soon learned that Pierce\u2019s window had been left open overnight; that residents weren\u2019t moved to warmer hallways from rooms where temperatures had fallen to 48 degrees; that the facility\u2019s emergency generator didn\u2019t power all buildings; and that families weren\u2019t informed of the worsening conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe what I was learning,\u201d Purple recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Typically, Purple\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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She also recalled repeatedly calling the medical examiner\u2019s office to ascertain how the officials might designate Pierce\u2019s manner of death. That\u2019s because she was concerned that if it was ruled an accident, law enforcement would not be able to formally open a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n
But the medical examiner\u2019s office showed little interest, Purple said. Within days, Deputy Medical Examiner Lauren\u00a0Edelman ruled Pierce\u2019s death accidental.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
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.
\n RALPH BARRERA \/ AMERICAN-STATESMAN<\/p>\n
Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
In interviews, Purple and Ferguson said they had preliminary discussions with Austin police about a potential criminal investigation but the Police Department wouldn\u2019t say if they ever opened one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Representatives for the Police Department and medical examiner\u2019s office declined the Statesman\u2019s interview requests to discuss the Pierce case and did not answer written questions.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(The facility, located on Taylor Draper Lane, was recently sold to Fort Worth-based Sagora Senior Living and now operates under the name\u00a0Asher Point Senior Living of Austin.)<\/p>\n
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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\u2019s Office about the fatality.<\/p>\n
Sheriff\u2019s Office spokesperson Kristen Dark said the agency had no record of an investigation into Pierce\u2019s death. She added that she could not search the office\u2019s records system to determine if the commission had shared Purple\u2019s report with the office. If they had, she said office personnel would have referred the case to the Police Department.<\/p>\n
Purple said none of the agencies contacted her for additional information, even as media outlets reported on her findings.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job was to protect elderly residents and we failed as a government to protect this woman,\u201d Purple said. \u201cThe authorities I contacted could have done more. I gave them all that I had.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Nearly three years went by before the agencies would act again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Years of silence<\/p>\n
In early 2023, the Pierce family sued the Renaissance\u2019s corporate owner in civil court for gross negligence.<\/p>\n
While working on the case later that year family attorney Scott\u00a0Hendler obtained Purple\u2019s report through an open records request. He told the Statesman he found it so compelling that he contacted the medical examiner\u2019s office and also filed a complaint with the Public Integrity and Complex Crimes division at the District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
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Weeks later,\u00a0Edelman \u2014 the deputy medical examiner \u2014 amended the initial autopsy report to change the manner of Pierce\u2019s death from \u201caccident\u201d to “homicide.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Hendler said Edelman\u2019s office indicated to him that it had not previously seen Purple\u2019s report prior to him sharing it with them. Through a Travis County spokesperson, Edelman declined an interview request for this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What exactly unfolded next is unclear, but according to information from Garza\u2019s office, the Police Department launched \u2014 or relaunched \u2014 an investigation into Pierce\u2019s death at some point after Edelman revised the manner of death.<\/p>\n
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Garza\u2019s prosecutors presented the results of that investigation to a grand jury earlier this year, in May.<\/p>\n
Two months later, the panel indicted the Renaissance\u2019s corporate owner, Harvest Renaissance LLC, along with Executive Director\u00a0Mendi Ramsay and Wellness Director Rochelle Alvarado, on charges of injury to an elderly person \u2014 a second-degree felony.<\/p>\n
Among the evidence that convinced the panel to hand down indictments: In-person testimony from Purple.<\/p>\n
Attorney Samuel\u00a0Bassett, who is representing Ramsay and Alvarado, declined the Statesman\u2019s interview request but sent a statement that said his clients cooperated fully during the investigation and that \u201cthough the passing of one of their residents was tragic, it was through no fault of their own and certainly no crime was committed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Harvest attorney Joshua Saegert also declined an interview and sent a statement that acknowledged the charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the resident, and we will continue to work with local authorities,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Experts: A systemic breakdown<\/p>\n
It remains unclear why\u00a0Edelman initially ruled Pierce\u2019s death an accident, but legal experts said that is what likely doomed the case from the start.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt would be unusual for law enforcement to open an investigation that ignores the medical examiner\u2019s finding,\u201d said Richard\u00a0Alpert, a former Tarrant County prosecutor. \u201cThat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert\u00a0Kepple, 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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally prosecutors rely on agencies like the Texas Rangers or Austin police to bring them evidence,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can be hard for them to go completely on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza speaks at a news conference at Austin City Hall about the 1991 I Can\u2019t Believe It\u2019s Yogurt murder investigation on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
A week after the winter storm,\u00a0Garza \u2014 who had just taken office a month prior \u2014 announced <\/a>he was launching a criminal investigation into \u201cthe events that led to\u201d the crisis and vowed to \u201chold powerful actors accountable whose actions or inactions may have led to the suffering.”\u00a0<\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
The exact target and scope of that probe remains unclear, though at the time it seemed possibly aimed at the state\u2019s power grid operator. It is also not clear if\u00a0Garza 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 \u201cmay have some updates in the near future.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, her cause of death was determined to be accidental,\u201d the statement said. \u201cOur office re-examined the case after new information was provided at the beginning of 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n
A family\u2019s loss<\/p>\n
For Ferguson, the indictments came as relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cMom would have been horrified if something like this happened to one of her loved ones,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cI know she would be proud of all the hard work that has gotten us to this point. She would feel vindicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just never crossed my mind that so many awful mistakes would have been made that led to my mother\u2019s death,\u201d she said. \u201cMy mind just couldn\u2019t go there.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Tony Plohetski and Skye Seipp contributed reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Holly Ferguson holds a family photo of her mother, Cynthia Pierce, alongside several family members.\u00a0Pierce, who lived at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,4761,294,251,27,10221,10220],"class_list":["post-12023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-austin-police-department","tag-crime","tag-local-news","tag-texas","tag-travis-county-district-attorneys-office","tag-travis-county-medical-examiners-office"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}