Overview

• A Travis County grand jury on July 22 indicted Harvest Renaissance–Austin, LLC, former executive director Mendi Ramsay, and former wellness director Rochelle Alvarado on injury-to-an-elderly-person charges in the death of Cynthia “Cindy” Pierce.
• Prosecutors say Pierce, 73, was found in an unheated room with windows open during the blackout and was not moved to a warmer area or reported to state regulators before she died of hypothermia at a hospital on Feb. 17, 2021.
• The charged offense is a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in state jail and a $10,000 fine, and the DA says the corporate defendant is liable based on actions of high-level managers.
• Defense attorneys say no crime occurred, assert staff took extraordinary measures during an unprecedented storm, and indicate the former employees will plead not guilty as the operator pledges cooperation with authorities.
• The family’s 2023 wrongful-death lawsuit remains pending, Austin police worked the case with prosecutors after a January 2024 referral, and the former employees are expected in court next week in the 403rd District Court.