Disabled Man Dies When Driver Leaves Him In Sweltering Van

SEMINOLE, FL — A group home employee has been charged with aggravated manslaughter in the May 9 death of a disabled man who was left in a sweltering minivan.

Joshua D. Russell, 26, was arrested Friday for the death five months ago.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to 82nd Avenue North and Oakhurst Road in Seminole at 5:35 p.m. May 9 for a report of an unresponsive man in a vehicle. When they arrived, they found paramedics were already on the scene.

The paramedics found 35-year-old John LaPointe dead inside a 2006 Toyota Sienna minivan.

When deputies began to investigate, they learned that LaPointe was a resident of the Crossroads of Pinellas group home at 12986 96th Ave. N. in Seminole. LaPointe had Down syndrome, was nonverbal and had the cognitive ability of a 1-year-old child.

At 1 p.m. that day, Russell, who worked at the group home, was tasked with taking LaPointe to a doctor's appointment. After leaving the doctor's appointment, Russell decided to stop by his now-former house in the 13000 block of Bermuda Drive in Seminole. He left LaPointe seat-belted in the back of the van while he went into his home where he ingested two packages of Kratom, a substance that is sometimes used as a recreational drug.

Detectives said Russell returned to the van and was driving back to the group home when he began feeling tired and nauseated. Russell returned to his home, parked the van in the driveway and turned the engine off. Russell told detectives he then took a nap in the van while LaPointe was still seat-belted in the back seat.

About two to three hours later, Russell awoke in the hot van covered in sweat. He noticed that LaPointe was slumped over and unresponsive. He tried performing CPR on LaPointe and, when his attempt failed, he went back into his home and got a gun. He called his mother who also worked at Crossroads of Pinellas, told her what happened and said he was going to kill himself.

Russell then began driving the van with LaPointe's body still in the back seat. Detectives said Russell's mother convinced him to pull over and stop the van near 82nd Avenue North and Oakhurst Road while she called 911.

In the meantime, Russell took his gun and walked away from the van. Deputies located him nearby and arrested him for carrying a concealed firearm.

Detectives said the estimated temperature of the van at the time of LaPointe's death was around 125 degrees. The Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office determined that the cause of death was hyperthermia, caused by an abnormally high body temperature.