Senior housing complex manager left injured resident to die on apartment floor, lawsuit alleges

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The daughter of a woman left injured and dying in a state-run apartment complex is now suing.

The woman’s decomposing body was found after neighbors complained about the smell.

Kara Miller-Lim said she and her mother, Joe Ann Miller, were always close.

The two spoke just days before the 87-year-old’s decomposing body was found in unit 218 of the Honuakaha Senior Housing Complex on Queen Street in Kakaako.

“She had relied on me to help her with shopping and just help her out around the house,” Lim said.

Lim is now suing Honuakaha, the state of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Community Development Authority for wrongful death, negligence and inflicting emotional distress.

According to the Honolulu police report, the building manager on duty, whose name is redacted by HPD, said he checked “Miller’s room on October 27, 2022, and saw her nude on the floor of the apartment.”

Instead of checking on her, he closed the door and left.

The manager told police “that he had no medical training and did not want to disturb Miller.”

Four days later, on Oct. 31, a tenant complained about a smell coming from unit 218.

The tenant said “it smelled like death,” so management called Lim to check on her mother.

Lim said she’ll never forget the smell and sight of her mother’s decomposing body on the apartment floor.

Lim is angry that the manager did not help her mother when he went to check on her.

Lim imagined her mother was suffering for several hours before she died.

“She had lifted her head and was still alive at that point, but that he didn’t call for help... It was a dreadful feeling that she had been there for days,” she said.

Her attorney, Bosko Petricevic, said the manager should have asked if Miller needed help before leaving, and could have called 911 just to make sure.

“Shocking indifference and negligence,” Petricevic said. “Call anyone. Call another on-duty manager. Call the daughter.”

A police diagram of the apartment shows the front door with a clear line of sight to where Miller died.

The report by the medical examiner showed she died from a heart condition and had multiple other health issues, but Lim believed she had more time with her mother and she could have been saved.

Petricevic said the on-duty manager may not have intentionally caused Miller’s death, but said he was negligent.

The lawsuit doesn’t mention a specific amount in compensation, but Lim is asking for a jury trial.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority declined to comment for the story.

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