TRINITY, Fla. — Eight months after 83-year-old Navy Veteran Gene Ray froze to death at the Waverly of Trinity assisted living facility, a lawsuit filed by his widow accuses the facility's operators of abuse, neglect, and wrongful death.
WATCH: Lawsuit: Staffing failures, unlocked doors led to death of man found in freezer
The 42-page complaint alleges that in the early morning hours of Sept. 26, 2025, Ray, who had been diagnosed with dementia and major cognitive decline, left his bedroom shortly after 12:30 a.m.
Footage from a Ring camera, installed by the family, showed him wander away.
The next morning, when Ray's daughter, Kristen Spencer, noticed her father was missing, she called the Waverly to report he wasn't in his room, then rushed with her mother to the facility, where they waited in a conference room as staff members searched.
"The director came in and said they found him, and then she said he was in the freezer, " Spencer said. "And I said, what do you mean he's in the freezer? I couldn't even believe the words that I was hearing. From there it was just unbearable."
When asked how the facility explained what happened, Spencer said, "They didn't."
What inspectors found
The Agency for Healthcare Administration, or AHCA, released an inspection report in November that outlined dangerous lapses.
The report said there was only one staff member on duty to care for 48 residents that night, that surveillance footage showed Ray wandered around the facility unnoticed for hours, and that Ray was seen entering and exiting the kitchen area and the kitchen's cooler multiple times.
The lawsuit alleges: "Had the kitchen doors been secured and locked while ALF kitchen employees were off duty, Mr. Ray would not have frozen to death on September 26, 2025."
"How could this happen? Basic safety measures not in place to secure the kitchen," Spencer said.
The family's attorney, Steve Barnes, said the failures went beyond that night.
"There were systemic failures in staffing that we believe directly led to Mr. Ray's death," Barnes said.
A pattern of wandering documented in records
The lawsuit also alleges that from the outset of Ray's admission, staff documented repeated wandering incidents:
- May 21, 2025 — 12 days after he was admitted, Ray was described in medical records as "very confused" and entering other residents' rooms.
- July 11, 2025 — Ray was reported "walking outside the building."
- July 17, 2025 — Staff wrote: "We have received several complaints from staff and other residents about Mr. Ray walking into other rooms at night."
- July 30, 2025 — A doctor documented Ray "remains significantly cognitively impaired... unable to recall what he ate for lunch or breakfast the previous day. When asked the current year, he responded '2010.'"
- Sept. 23, 2025 — Less than 72 hours before he froze to death, the same doctor recommended memory care placement. Ray was never moved to the more secured unit.
'They failed my dad'
When Ray was found at 8:10 a.m. — three-and-a-half hours after he was last seen on surveillance footage — his core body temperature was 66 degrees.
He was rushed to nearby Trinity Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
The lawsuit states that "in layman's terms, Mr. Ray froze to death."
"In those moments, with him locked in there all by himself. Like for hours. I just… I don't even have words," Spencer said.
"They failed us. They failed my family. They failed my dad. That's the bottom line," Spencer said.
The Waverly Provides Statement
We contacted the Waverly, and their attorney provided the following statement:
The Waverly acknowledges that a lawsuit has been filed by Mr. Ray’s family concerning his residency at the community and the circumstances surrounding his passing. While the Waverly cannot comment in detail on pending litigation, it strongly disputes the allegations asserted against it and intends to vigorously defend itself through the legal process.
The Waverly remains committed to providing compassionate care to its residents and believes the full facts will be established through the appropriate legal proceedings. Because this matter is now in active litigation, no further public comment will be made at this time.
The family hopes the case will push assisted living facilities statewide to keep vulnerable residents safe, especially when cognitive decline makes them unable to protect themselves.
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Adam Walser has spent more than a decade fighting for what’s right in Tampa Bay as part of the I-Team. He’s helped expose flaws in Florida’s eldercare system and held leaders accountable for questionable HOA practices. Reach out to Adam with any issue you think he needs to investigate.
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