June 27, 2023
The Medicaid Fraud and Patient Abuse Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office filed charges on June 22 against two Hidden Hollow Care Center employees in Orem concerning the death of C.N., a former patient.
Amy Lauritzen and Laetitia Odunze have each been charged with one count of Reckless Aggravated Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult as third-degree felonies.
Investigators found that C.N. had run out of medication and began expressing suicidal ideations and attempting to take his own life. Lauritzen and Odunze knew about the lack of medication and C.N.’s suicide attempts. Neither Lauritzen nor Odunze took measures to prevent C.N.’s suicide, including not informing the night staff of C.N.’s situation.
Read the charges against Amy Lauritzen here.
Read the charges against Laetitia Odunze here.
Note: The Medicaid Fraud and Patient Abuse Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,825,860 for the federal fiscal year 2023. The State of Utah funds the remaining 25 percent.
