Criminally negligent homicide

CBS News reported the conviction of two nursing home caregivers for criminally negligent homicide, a felony. Police charged Letticia Martinez, Jamie Johnston and Jenny Logan for the death of 86-year-old Hazel Place. They left her unattended and unsupervised for over 6 hours in the hot sun. Prosecutors with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office told CBS4 that temperatures that day reached 100 degrees. She was eventually discovered outside Grand Junction Cappella Assisted Living and Memory Care’s building on June 14, 2021.

Logan, 52, was found not guilty of the charges against her by a Mesa County jury. Case records show Martinez and Johnston had also been originally charged with falsifying documents during the incident.

Johnston, 32, pleaded to the felony charge in December and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 150 hours of community service, and three years probation.

Martinez, 28, pleaded guilty to the charge last year. The judge sentenced to Martinez to 30 days in jail and 100 hours of community service. But Martinez did receive a sentence of three years probation on a separate misdemeanor charge of neglect.