The woman whose death was caught on a surveillance tape at
Kings County Hospital Center shocking New York officials and people will be transported
and buried in her birth country of Jamaica after a funeral was held for her
Sunday at the Jesus is Lord Sanctuary in Canarsie.
Esmin Elizabeth Green, 49, left Jamaica
ten years ago for New York
hoping to find a better life and most of all hoping to provide her family from
home enough money for a decent life. Green was the mother of six children, the
youngest now 14 and the oldest 31.
The woman was struggling with losing her job at a day care
center and had been forced to move out of her apartment days before being
admitted involuntarily at the Brooklyn
hospital on June 18.
She was showing signs of agitation and psychosis, but she
was left waiting in the emergency room for nearly 24 hours because the hospital
had no beds available at that time. After a day of terrible struggle, she fell
off her chair at 5:32 am on June 19. She was being left on the floor for an
hour, in which time a security guard and a staff member did nothing to help her
although they were clearly seeing what was going on with her. When finally
staff members decided to help her, there was nothing much to be done. She was
dead.
The cause of her death is still being investigated. Only
four staff members were fired, including the hospital’s director of psychiatry
and the head of security, and two were suspended. The city is investigating
whether to press criminal charges.
Reverend Hopeton Allman, who knew Green for the past three years,
had only good words about her. "What I know is that she is a mother who
really cared about her children. She was a very friendly person who was liked
by everyone, but she was very straightforward,” he said as quoted by the
Jamaica Observer.
He continued by saying that Green’s children have been devastated
by the loss of their mother. Four family member, including Green’s daughter and
sister flew to the U.S. on Friday to attend the memorial service held for Green
at the Jesus is Lord Sanctuary in Canarsie.
Green’s body will be transported to Jamaica on Tuesday for the funeral service that
will be held at the Duxes
SDA Church
next Sunday. The city of New York
will support costs of the funeral arrangements.
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