PITTSBURGH - An in-home health aide faces a wrongful death lawsuit for failing to notice her patient had been missing for more than two hours, during which time she drowned in a hot tub.
Ramona Pereira-Chakka filed a lawsuit Aug. 7 in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County against Folake Sowami and Shadai Healthcare Services LLC.
The complaint alleges negligence leading to the wrongful death of Ramona's mother, Rosinha Pereira. According to the filing, Rosinha, who suffered from Parkinson's Disease, was under the care of Shadai Healthcare and specifically under the supervision of Sowami on the night she died.
Pereira was more than 70 years old while in the care of Shadai. Sowami started watching her at 6 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2022, and her shift was to end the following morning.
Pereira told Sowami in the middle of the night she needed to use the restroom. Sowami allegedly didn't accompany here there. She had wandered into a hot tub about 1:47 a.m. but wasn't found for about two more hours, the suit claims. The cause of death was drowning
About three hours had passed before Sowami began to search for Pereira after Pereira didn't return, the suit says.
Sowami faces involuntary manslaughter criminal charges, among others.
The suit claims that Sowami failed to properly monitor Rosinha, resulting in her wandering outside and drowning in a hot tub. Ramona is seeking damages exceeding $50,000 for negligence, wrongful death, and survival actions.
Christopher Marzzacco of Marzzacco Niven & Associates represents the plaintiff.