FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Charges have been dropped against two psychologists who were indicted last month by a Broward County grand jury in connection with the death of a 12-year-old autistic girl.
Broward County state attorney's office spokesman Ron Ishoy said charges were dropped Wednesday against Juliana Gerena and Helen Richardson. They were indicted Aug. 22 on one count each of failure to report child neglect.
Tamiyah Audain died in September 2013.
According to a Lauderhill police report, Audain had extensive bed sores and bone-deep wounds. She weighed only 56 pounds at the time of her death.
Investigators subpoenaed the treatment records of Gerena and Richardson, who had been monitoring the girl's autism. Because the records were obtained by subpoena and the attorney for the psychologists invoked their fifth-amendment rights against self-incrimination, giving them immunity, that effectively barred the state from using those records against them in future proceedings, Ishoy said.
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However, charges still remain against Audain's caregiver, Latoya Patterson, and the girl's ChildNet caseworker, Jabeth Moye.
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