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Thursday 13 December 2012

Caseworker 'chased down street with butcher's knife and stabbed to death' during routine visit to client's home

An inexperienced health care caseworker who visited a client at his home knew there was something that made her 'very uncomfortable' about the 53-year-old man, even writing in his file that two people should visit him in the future.

Yet 25-year-old Stephanie Ross went alone to Lucious Smith's apartment Monday morning, and police said the ex-con with a history of violence inexplicably chased her down the street, stabbing her to death with a butcher knife.


Ross' death underscored the dangers of in-home visits by social workers and health care professionals. Some states have added safeguards to prevent attacks, such as pairing them up with another worker for home visits or assigning a police escort, but the additional measures are sometimes too costly for states and private companies.

'It may be if the risk is too high you don't send two people out, you ask the client to come in or meet in a different place or postpone the visit,' said Tracy Whitaker, of the National Association of Social Workers. 'Unfortunately, the money gets found after there's a tragedy.'

Smith was being held without bail at the Pasco County jail on a first-degree murder charge. It is unclear whether he has an attorney.

Ross became a service coordinator for Maryland-based Integra Health Management in September and wanted to help people with chronic illnesses, the company said in a statement. She had been on the job for about a month when she first visited Smith in Dade City, a small city about 30 miles north of Tampa.

Afterward, Ross wrote about being 'very uncomfortable' with Smith, according to Dade City police officer Brian Uppercue, who said authorities reviewed the file. It's not clear why Ross went there by herself Monday or what his illness was.

1 comment:

  1. Wow it's been some crazy situations happening down in Florida this year.

    ReplyDelete