SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KSTU) -- Over a year and a half ago, a teen with autism escaped from a Utah group home managed by Future Rising Agency, stole two cars, hit a motorcyclist, and ultimately was shot and killed by police officers.
Now, several employees have been charged with felony offenses including abuse, neglect, obstruction of justice, and tampering with witnesses and evidence.
FOX 13 News previously reported that employees of Future Rising Agency were being investigated several months after the incident for possible neglect.
On Tuesday, the Utah Attorney General's Office charged six people with mishandling the teen's case in one way or another, including an attempted cover-up of his escape several hours after the fact.
- Nadira Yassin, age 52, was the executive director of Future Rising. She was charged with two counts of Abuse or Neglect of a Child with a Disability, a 3rd-degree felony. - Hanan Obied, 25, was the program director. She was also charged with two counts of Abuse or Neglect of a Child with a Disability, along with four counts of Tampering with a Witness, one count of Tampering with Evidence, and Obstruction of Justice. - Muhamed Dahir, 29, was the director of operations. He was charged with the same offenses as Yassin, plus one count of Tampering with a Witness. - Kauata Bloomfield, 50, was a consultant for Future Rising and was charged with a single count of Abuse or Neglect of a Child with a Disability. - Mele Pauni, 54, worked for Primary Support Services, which had custody of the teen before he was handed over to Future Rising just about a week before the fatal incident. Pauni was charged with one count each of Abuse or Neglect of a Child with a Disability, Tampering with a Witness, Tampering with Evidence, and Obstruction of Justice. - Lusinita Makalio, 57, was a house manager for Future Rising. She was the person who discovered that the teen was missing when she went to clean his room at 11 a.m. that day. She was charged with one count of Obstruction of Justice.
The teen had been moved to a new home in Bluffdale the day before he escaped. The exact time of his escape was not given; however, the teen was reported to have stolen a vehicle as early as 7:30 a.m.