My mother - she was so upset at my death. I think she felt guilty. She put me in that home. But it wasn’t really her fault. Sam Lazarus had done everything to make the Jireh Home look like it would work. He had all the "right" certificates on the wall; he kept the place clean; he even had a nurse (his wife) on staff. They even told her that they were very capable of handling my violent outbursts. I don’t know why I got so upset on May 25th of 2002. But I did. And Eberre, who was supposed to care for me, choked me to death.
Mom met with Todd Kelly about six months later, and told him about me. Todd was worried at first because he did not know what a case for a mentally retarded autistic person in a home could possibly be worth - especially in Fort Bend County, Texas. But he agreed to take the case and to pursue justice in my memory. Even later, after he learned that there was no insurance, and that the Lazarus family had filed for bankruptcy, Todd still kept the case. As the trial approached, he encouraged his friend Ron Estefan to help.
They both knew that, in all probability, they would never be paid. But they are Trial Lawyers who seek justice.
On Thursday, November 8, 2007, a Fort Bend County jury said that the home was at fault. Even though their $1.5 million verdict will probably not be paid, the verdict still told my mother that twelve of her peers thought that it was the Jireh Home’s fault - not hers, and it told her that my life, and her loss, were worth something after all. Mom wrote Todd a note saying that he had the demeanor of a hawk, with the heart of a dove.