Attorney General Phil Weiser announces woman sentenced in death of 86-year-old
Dec. 9, 2022 (DENVER) — Attorney General Phil Weiser today announced that Letticia Martinez, 28, pleaded guilty to neglect in the death of a resident at the Cappella Assisted Living and Memory Care facility in Grand Junction. She was sentenced to three years’ probation, 100 hours of community service and 30 days in jail.
An investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Colorado Department of Law and the Grand Junction Police Department found that Martinez, Jamie Johnston, 31, and Jenny Logan, 52, were responsible for the death of Hazel Place on June 14, 2021, after she was left outside alone in the heat for six hours.
Martinez pleaded guilty to one count of caretaker neglect, a class 1 misdemeanor, and to a deferred sentence of negligent homicide, a class 5 felony. Johnston and Logan’s cases are ongoing.
“This caretaker broke the trust of a vulnerable Coloradan in her care,” Weiser said. “Caregivers have a moral and legal responsibility to those under their supervision, and my office will continue holding accountable those complicit in such negligence.”
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is dedicated to protecting the integrity of the system that provides healthcare to the most vulnerable Coloradans. It accomplishes this through the investigation and prosecution of Medicaid provider fraud as well as the investigation and prosecution of the abuse and neglect of Medicaid clients in non-institutional settings as well as the abuse and neglect of patients in institutions that receive Medicaid dollars. To report suspected Medicaid fraud or abuse, contact the Department of Law at mfcu.investigations@coag.gov or (720) 508-6696.
The filing of a criminal charge is a formal accusation that an individual committed a crime under Colorado laws. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
###
Media Contact
Lawrence Pacheco
Director of Communications
(720) 508-6553 office | (720) 245-4689 cell
Lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov