Inset: Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez (GoFundMe). Background: The Miami Dollar Tree where Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez was reportedly found naked and dead inside of a freezer (WPLG).
A Florida anesthesiologist and mother of two wound up dead "inside a freezer" at a Miami Dollar Tree last year after she "became trapped inside," her family says in new $50 million lawsuit, which accuses a manager of instructing a worker on duty "not to review the surveillance footage" and failing to take "reasonable action to locate or assist" the mom.
The Miami Police Department told Law&Crime that Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez, 32, was found inside of the Dollar Tree — located at 968 SW 8th Street in Little Havana — on Dec. 14. A 911 dispatcher was heard on a police scanner saying, "Complainant found a naked female in the cooler of the store," according to local CBS affiliate WFOR.
"We received a call from an employee, who reported that there was a deceased woman inside of the business, inside of the freezer," a Miami PD spokesperson told Law&Crime. "No foul play is suspected, but it's still an active and ongoing investigation."
Officers responded to the Dollar Tree and found Sanchez's body in a freezer located in a restricted, employee-only area inside of the discount store. Police said it didn't appear that Sanchez was forced into the freezer, but it was unclear how she ended up there. She was allegedly seen by workers walking into the store on the Saturday night before it closed.
Cops said Sanchez didn't buy anything and was spotted making her way to a freezer in the back storage room.
"While an invitee on the premises, Sanchez became trapped inside a walk-in freezer located within the Dollar Tree Store and thereafter sustained fatal injuries," her family's legal complaint says.
"At all times material, Dollar Tree owed Sanchez and other invitees a nondelegable duty to exercise reasonable care in the ownership, operation, inspection, maintenance, and supervision of the Dollar Tree Store, including but not limited to: maintaining the premises in a reasonably safe condition; protecting invitees from foreseeable risks of harm; securing and safely maintaining dangerous instrumentalities, including walk-in freezers; implementing and enforcing reasonable safety policies and procedures; and taking reasonable action to locate and assist invitees after being placed on notice that a customer was missing or unaccounted for," the complaint alleges.
The store manager, Yanelkis Gonzalez, was "placed on actual notice" that Sanchez was missing and "had not exited" the Dollar Tree, with him being asked by a customer to "review available surveillance footage" to try and locate Sanchez, according to the complaint. But he allegedly refused.
"Gonzalez affirmatively instructed the Dollar Tree employee not to review the surveillance footage," the complaint says.
Gonzalez is also accused of "failing to implement, train employees on, and enforce reasonable closing-time policies and procedures to ensure that all patrons and invitees, including Sanchez, had exited the Dollar Tree Store prior to closing," per the complaint. Sanchez's family also says the freezer in question was faulty and store workers failed to prevent shoppers from "accessing" it.
"Dollar Tree was negligent and breached its duties of care to Sanchez by … failing to install, maintain, and/or implement adequate safety mechanisms within the walk-in freezer, including but not limited to an internal emergency release, latch, or alarm, to prevent entrapment," the complaint concludes.
Dollar Tree management could not be reached for comment by Law&Crime on Sunday.
Originally from Nicaragua, a GoFundMe launched for Sanchez's family describes her as a "devoted" doctor and "beloved" mother who "dedicated her life to medicine, earning recognition as a Anesthesiologist specializing in congenital heart disease whose work brought hope and healing to countless children and families," the description says.
"Her compassion, skill, and commitment to saving young lives defined both her career and her character," the GoFundMe adds. "Beyond her profession, she was a loving mother to two children, who remain in Nicaragua and were the center of her world. Her strength, warmth, and unwavering love for her family will always be remembered."
Comments