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Michigan Official Is Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter in Flint Water Crisis 5 Michigan Officials Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter in Flint Water Crisis
(about 3 hours later)
FLINT, Mich. — The head of Michigan’s Health Department has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Flint’s tainted water crisis, court documents filed on Tuesday showed. FLINT, Mich. — Five officials in Michigan, including the head of the state’s health department, were charged on Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter, marking the first time investigators have drawn a direct link between the acts of government officials in Flint’s water contamination crisis and the deaths of residents that followed.
The criminal charge against Nick Lyon, the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, is the one most directly linked to the deaths of residents in the three-year-old water contamination case. The water has been tied to the lead poisoning of children in Flint and the deaths of 12 people from Legionnaires’ disease. Since 2014, when this city switched water suppliers, partly to save money, the water has been linked to the lead poisoning of children and the deaths of 12 people from Legionnaires’ disease. It was one those deaths that led to the involuntary manslaughter accusations, Bill Schuette, Michigan’s attorney general, said on Wednesday. He also announced a new list of charges in a sweeping investigation that has already led to cases against 13 officials.
“Defendant Lyon’s acts and failure to act resulted in the death of at least one person,” the charging document said. “The health crisis in Flint has created a trust crisis in Michigan government,” Mr. Schuette said.
The document also said: “Defendant Lyon exhibited gross negligence when he failed to alert the public about the deadly outbreak and by taking steps to suppress information illustrating obvious and apparent harms that were likely to result in serious injury. Defendant Lyon willfully disregarded the deadly nature of the Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak.” Mr. Schuette said that Nick Lyon, the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and four other state and local officials failed to properly alert the public about a Legionnaires’ outbreak and the possibility that another outbreak would happen. Those four other state and local officials had previously been charged with other crimes in connection with the water crisis.
Mr. Lyon was also charged with misconduct in office. If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, he could face 15 years in prison. Mr. Lyon was also accused of misconduct in office, a felony. His lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment.
Before Tuesday’s charges, 13 people had been charged in the crisis, but the charges had included accusations of misconduct in office and conspiracy to commit false pretenses, and appeared less directly tied to deaths than the one against Mr. Lyon. The charging documents pointed in particular to one of the 12 who perished after the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak: Robert Skidmore, 85, who died on Dec. 13, 2015. Mr. Schuette said that Mr. Skidmore, a longtime auto industry worker, had been tending to his ailing wife in a Flint-area hospital when he grew ill himself — apparently from the water.
Over past months, three Flint officials, including a former director of the city’s Public Works Department and a former utilities director for the department, were charged. And 10 state officials — including two state-appointed emergency managers assigned to oversee Flint, a state epidemiologist and the former leader of the state municipal drinking water office — faced charges. “It’s a very tragic story,” Mr. Schuette said, adding later: “The family had to bury their mother and their father.”
Mr. Lyon had been told in a letter last year that he was a target of the investigation, his lawyer said. The charging documents said that Mr. Lyon’s “acts and failure to act resulted in the death of at least one person.” It asserted that Mr. Lyon “willfully disregarded the deadly nature” of the Legionnaires’ outbreak and “exhibited gross negligence when he failed to alert the public about the deadly outbreak and by taking steps to suppress information illustrating obvious and apparent harms that were likely to result in serious injury.
If convicted of involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office, Mr. Lyon faces up to 20 years in prison.
Also charged on Tuesday was Eden Wells, the chief medical executive for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Wells was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a peace officer.
The latest charges brought to 15 the number of people charged in connection to Flint’s water crisis. Mr. Schuette said that his investigation was not over.
Mr. Schuette is a Republican who is widely seen as a possible candidate for governor of Michigan in 2018. He declined to say whether the investigation might lead to charges against Gov. Rick Snyder. He said that investigators had tried to interview Governor Snyder, who is barred by term limits from running for re-election, without success. Mr. Schuette would not elaborate.
“We only file criminal charges when evidence of probable cause to commit a crime has been established, and we are not filing charges at this time,” Mr. Schuette said.
Governor Snyder issued a statement of support for Mr. Lyons and Dr. Wells, and appeared critical of the legal process, noting that other state employees had been charged more than a year ago but had yet to have their cases tried in court.
“That is not justice for Flint nor for those who have been charged,” Mr. Snyder said. “Director Lyon and Dr. Wells have been and continue to be instrumental in Flint’s recovery. They have my full faith and confidence, and will remain on duty at D.H.H.S.”