Mothers say missteps at Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office worsened their grief

No civil lawsuit concerning the Nueces County Medical Examiner's office has been filed. However, dozens of families have accused the office of mishandling autopsies of the families' relatives.

Chase Rogers
Corpus Christi Caller Times
Sept. 26, 2022

SKIDMORE — Raul Gonzalez had a reputation for beating the odds.

His mother, Alma Gonzalez, said he was diagnosed with Down syndrome, had multiple medical ailments and was small enough to “fit in a shoebox." At the time, her doctor had a grim prognosis: Her son wouldn't live past 3 years old.

“The doctor came in crying. My mother came in crying. My husband came in crying, and I just thought, ‘Well, what happened?’ I thought he was born dead,” Alma Gonzalez, 69, said in an interview with the Caller-Times in August. She is thankful the doctor’s prognosis didn’t come true. “They said 2 to 3 years, but, my God, he lived to 41 years.”

He grew up as the oldest of two brothers and an avid sports fan with a particular fervor for the University of Texas at Austin and Dallas Cowboys football teams. His mother and his brother, Ruben Gonzalez, said he was the “life of the party” at family outings, where he was never seen without his boombox.

In the fall of 2020, the mother and son tested positive for COVID-19 and were hospitalized. While Alma Gonzalez recovered, her oldest son died in November from medical complications caused by the respiratory disease. Alma Gonzalez could not attend his funeral because she was bedridden.

His death kicked off a series of events wherein the family became disillusioned with the Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office, which performed his autopsy. In the wake of a criminal investigation into the office, dozens of families with similar stories have retained a South Texas law firm and are poised to sue the county. The office's negligence and mishandling of their deceased loved ones, they say, compounded and complicated their grieving processes.

The families said a criminal investigation into the office by the Nueces County District Attorney's Office and the Texas Rangers, the investigative arm of the Department of Public Safety, and the subsequent arrests heightened those feelings and sparked uncertainty.

The former chief medical examiner who performed Raul Gonzalez's autopsy, Dr. Adel Shaker, was arrested in the spring.

No civil lawsuit concerning the medical examiner's office has been filed. In two legal notices the law firm, Gowan Elizondo, has sent to the county, the families accuse the medical examiner's office of negligence and mishandling autopsies of the families' relatives. Similar notices typically precede the filing of a lawsuit and usually request the defendant preserve pertinent records.

The Gonzalez family said communication with the office was spotty and the process of obtaining a death certificate was prolonged by months. “My son would call and my other son would call, and they would give them the runaround,” Alma Gonzalez said.

Corpus Christi resident Edna Everett, who also retained the law firm, echoed the Gonzalez family's claims about poor communication and said the criminal investigation and arrests concerned her. Her son, Jacob Ruiz, died in April and was autopsied by the office, which she said "stonewalled" her in getting information about her son's status.

The situation deepened her grief and caused her to have symptoms similar to a panic attack, she said, making her day-to-day life more challenging.

"I was trembling, and I couldn't hold back. I can't hold back. Every single day, I cry. It's the unknown that is hard," she said.

The autopsy for Everett's son was performed by Dr. Ray Fernandez, who served as the interim chief medical examiner until a new one was hired following Shaker's resignation. Fernandez was the chief medical examiner prior to Shaker.

The Caller-Times obtained final and partial autopsy reports associated with 13 out of 15 of the families' cases. The remaining two reports, which Shaker did, were unavailable because they have not been documented yet. The cases associated with the 15 families include death rulings related to natural causes, suicides and accidents. A handful do not have a listed manner or cause of death, and the descendants' death dates range from 2017 to this year.

As of July, the number of families who have retained the law has grown and nears 30 in total.

Nueces County Attorney Jenny Dorsey declined to comment on the legal notices issued to the county. The chief medical examiner who replaced Shaker, Dr. Timothy Fagen, also declined, saying the autopsies at issue were conducted before his time.

In a written statement, Fagen said the handling of people's loved ones and "compassionate, effective communication" with the families of those autopsied is one of his highest priorities.

Increased deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic and the criminal probe into the medical examiner office likely played a role in the delays. In June, Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales, who at the time was seeking legal remedies to address the issue, told the Caller-Times that there were nearly 100 unfinished death reports.

The ongoing criminal investigation has resulted in the arrests of three people: Shaker, the former chief medical examiner; Dr. Sandra Lyden, Shaker's former deputy chief medical examiner; and an office administrator. County emails the Caller-Times obtained in June indicate investigators had seized more than 900 case files from the office — a broadening of scope from the 30 case files associated with Lyden when the investigation began.

The criminal probe has made waves outside of the charges, resignations and possible civil litigation. The Nueces County Commissioners Court, in the wake of the arrests, asked county staff to reassess the employment policies and hiring practices, including the role of the human resources office and whether to require criminal background checks for key positions.

Both Everett and Gonzalez said they are worried about how their sons were treated during the autopsies and that office staff may have cut corners.

A majority of the charges faced by the trio relate to whether Lyden was licensed by the Texas Medical Board to practice and their alleged attempts to hide that information from investigators. None of the three face criminal charges related to the treatment of deceased persons during their tenure.

Still, Everett and Gonzalez said they chose to hire the law firm to put a spotlight on the office. The increased attention and scrutiny, they hope, will change how the office operates for the better.

"They can hire another (medical examiner), and you can do this and that and try and squash it and not say anything, but the damage has already been done — not just to us, but to family members and extended friends," Everett said. "(My son) was not a big talker or anything like that. ... For today, he is going to have the loudest voice, and I feel like he's going to be able to help other people."