A Long Island family says a medic advised against sending their mom to the hospital. She died the next day.
A Long Island family is seeking answers after their sick mother died less than 24 hours after they say a police medic advised against sending her to the hospital.
CBS News New York obtained records showing the state closed an investigation into the incident without pursuing administrative charges against the medic despite a state health investigator documenting what's described as a "pattern of negligence and misconduct."
"She instilled fear in me"
On Dec. 30, 2023, in Merrick, Jessica Scarry called for an ambulance for her mother, Lucy Soto, who had COVID-19.
"She says, I'm not feeling good at all and I really need to go to the hospital," Scarry said.
Two Nassau County police officers responded, along with Nassau County police medic Krista Watson. Part of the interaction was captured on police body-worn camera.
"Unless she's having chest pain, stroke, something critical... You know, we'd obviously take her, but she doesn't really need an ambulance for muscle fatigue from COVID, it's normal," Watson says in the video.
She also had this warning.
"Every hospital is jam-packed right now. There's 90-plus in the waiting rooms, like it's insane," Watson says. "Stay hydrated. Eat healthy. Get some fresh air. And unfortunately, you gotta wait it out. It sucks, I know."
Scarry then asks that her mother's vitals be checked. Watson asks if Scarry can put a mask on her mother, and Scarry says she can.
The video then shows Watson moving towards Soto. A few seconds later, the body camera is turned off.
Scarry says Watson warned that her mom could be exposed to other illnesses at the hospital.
"She instilled fear in me," Scarry told CBS News New York. "I didn't want to lose my mama, so I was like, you know, she'll just stay home."
"There was no offering to go to the hospital"
The next day, Scarry returned to check on her mom and found her unresponsive. She called 911 to request an ambulance.
Emergency crews transported Soto to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her death certificate lists COVID-19 as the immediate cause of death and indicates no autopsy was performed. The family alleges the decision not to perform an autopsy was not theirs.
Hospital records document that Soto arrived in cardiac arrest and list both cardiac arrest and COVID-19 as emergency-room diagnoses. Nassau County Internal Affairs later characterized those records as saying Soto "died of cardiac arrest," while the death certificate identifies COVID-19 as the immediate cause of death.
"I called 911 the day before, and she should have been taken to the hospital when she wasn't, and I think about [how] she probably could still be here," Scarry said.
Soto's longtime physician later wrote that, given her compromised immune system and reported low blood pressure, hospital transport was "probably warranted."
He also wrote, "While I cannot definitively state that IV fluids alone would have saved her life," hospital treatment including IV fluids and oxygen "might have potentially prevented the tragic outcome."
Watson documented Soto's blood pressure at 95 over 73. During an April 2024 interview with the state health investigator, Watson said the reading did not concern her because, she said, the family told her it was normal for Soto.
In sworn testimony this year, Watson said Soto was conscious and alert, sitting upright, nodding and understanding, was not showing signs of severe respiratory distress, and had stable vital signs. Watson said she believed Soto was already under a doctor's care for COVID, and maintained that while she recommended Soto stay home, rest and hydrate, hospital transport was still offered. Watson's patient-care report also states Soto had no shortness of breath, chest pain or dizziness, and did have a productive cough.
Watson's patient-care report also includes an electronic form with Scarry's signature indicating they refused medical attention.
"[Watson] just said, 'Sign here for your mom.' I was like, OK. It was just an iPad, it was blank," Scarry said. "She never mentioned that we're refusing care. Not once."
Watson disputes that account. According to the report from the lead state health investigator, Watson said she offered transport and explained the risks of refusing care. In sworn testimony this year, she maintained the family made the final decision to keep Soto home.
Watson also maintains she told the family they could call 911 again if they changed their minds.
"There was no offering to go to the hospital," Scarry said.
The available body-camera video doesn't show the check of the vitals or the signing of that form.
One officer stopped recording after one minute and 42 seconds. The other never activated his camera. Records show both officers were retrained.
You can watch the full body camera recording here. There is no audio for the first 30 seconds of the video.
DOH and Nassau County investigate
After Soto's death, her family filed complaints with both the Nassau County Police Department and the New York State Department of Health (DOH).
The family also filed Freedom of Information requests and obtained hundreds of pages of documents from the two investigations, which CBS News New York reviewed. They included interviews, medical records and internal emails.
A DOH investigator interviewed Watson and also reviewed records that showed her history of prior discipline.
A 2021 audit found 54 missing patient-care reports and 16 omitted assignments. Watson lost five days of leave. She later testified the missing reports involved canceled calls with no patient contact.
In 2023, Watson was disciplined after delaying a medical response, then having the call reassigned while she responded to a higher-priority emergency. After 29 minutes, the first patient's family drove him to the hospital themselves. A Nassau County supervisor warned "had the patient's condition been more serious, it could have been disastrous." Watson lost three days of leave.
After several months, the DOH investigator documented his findings.
He wrote Watson "shows a pattern of negligence and misconduct." He also found deficiencies in Watson's patient-care report from the interaction with Scarry and Soto, including documentation of vital signs and signatures.
He said Watson acknowledged advising against hospital transport because of overcrowding and exposure risks. At the time, Watson told the DOH investigator that she couldn't recall whether she'd seen the crowding that day or the day before.
This year, in sworn testimony, Watson said her warning was based on hospitals she'd visited earlier that day.
The DOH investigator emailed his report to Albany in April 2024.
A month later, state officials exchanged three emails. CBS News New York obtained them, but their contents are redacted. We are seeking the unredacted emails.
In June, the DOH investigator informed Nassau County Police its investigation was "closed on our end" and there was "no further action at this time."
DOH says it confirmed Watson took vital signs, documented an assessment and that the refusal form was signed on Soto's behalf. DOH also confirms it decided not to pursue administrative charges against Watson, but has not provided CBS News New York with an explanation as to who decided not to pursue charges and why.
In a statement, DOH said, "The New York State Department of Health takes these matters very seriously and the health and safety of patients who are attended to by emergency medical responders is always a top priority."
Eight days after the state closed its case – nearly six months after the Dec. 30, 2023, call – the Nassau County Police Department's Internal Affairs interviewed Watson and both responding officers.
All three interviews were conducted on the same day, and all three gave statements saying hospital transport was offered.
The county then closed its own investigation, finding the allegations against Watson "unfounded." Internal Affairs cited the patient's documented vital signs, the signed refusal of care, and statements from both officers supporting Watson's account that hospital transport was offered.
Family files lawsuit
It remains unknown if taking Soto to the hospital on Dec. 30, 2023, would have saved her life, but her family is suing Nassau County and Watson over their mother's death.
"It still takes, you know, the wind out of me," said Alexandra Famularo, Scarry's twin sister.
"I don't want what happened to my family to happen to someone [else]," Scarry said.
The defendants dispute the allegations. Nassau County declined comment, citing pending litigation. CBS News New York reached out to Watson by phone, text and email. She declined to comment through her union, CSEA Local 100, which also declined to comment.
