St. Rita's Nursing Home Tragedy Update

One of the most tragic episodes of Hurricane Katrina was the recovery of 35 bodies at St. Rita's Nursing Home in St. Bernard's Parish. They were killed by the rising floodwaters. It soon became evident that the owners may have been responsible for the deaths because they knew to evacuate but did not take steps to do so. As a result, the owners were charged with negligent homicide for failing to take steps to evacuate the patients before the storm hit.

The judge hearing the negligent homicide charges against the couple who own the St. Bernard Parish nursing home where 35 people died during Hurricane Katrina ruled this morning that their trial, should they seek one before a jury, will take place in West Feliciana Parish.

Judge Jerome Winsberg, a retired New Orleans judge who took on the case after St. Bernard Parish's judge recused themselves, issued the ruling in a courtroom in Chalmette.

Mabel and Salvador Mangano, who own St. Rita's Nursing Home, face 35 counts of negligent homicide and 64 counts of cruelty to the infirm. The nursing home residents died when floodwaters from Katrina swamped the parish.

Although the couple's defense attorneys sought the change of venue from St. Bernard Parish, they objected Friday to the move to West Feliciana. They argued that West Feliciana's population is far more rural than St. Bernard Parish, in addition to having a dramatically different racial makeup.

U.S. Census figures from the 2005 estimate show that West Feliciana Parish's population is around 15,000, and half white and almost half black. Figures for St. Bernard Parish show a population of more than 65,000, that is 87 percent white and 9.6 percent black.

The trial date is set for April 16, 2007.

When the situation at St. Rita's first came to light, one had no idea why the patients and staff did not evacuate. Only after investigators started examining matters did they learn that local officials had asked whether the owners needed help in evacuating, but the owners chose not to act. It was the inaction that resulted in the criminally negligent homicide charges filed against the two owners, Salvador A. Mangano and his wife, Mable.