Autistic Man's Death in Sweltering Van Leads to Manslaughter Charges

PENNDEL, Pa. (AP) A counselor at a residential treatment home is being charged with neglect and manslaughter in the death of a 20-year-old autistic man who was left in a hot van for several hours.

Forty-year-old Stacey Strauss, of Philadelphia, is charged in the July 24 death of Bryan Nevins outside Woods Services, a treatment home in suburban Philadelphia.

Police say Strauss was responsible for Nevins and another client on an outing to the Sesame Place amusement park. They say she was driving the van and returned only one of the clients to the home before parking the vehicle.

Strauss was expected to be arrested and arraigned on a felony neglect charge and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment.

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