Coroner identifies man who died at Cayce assisted living facility. More questions raised
The Lexington County Coroner’s Office identified the man who died Friday in a Cayce assisted living facility, prompting a police investigation which found residents were in “imminent danger.”
Though the man has been identified, more questions are being raised by investigators about the facility.
Coroner Margaret Fisher identified 69-year-old Timothy Frank Catalano as the man who died in Twilite Manor, an assisted living facility on Forrest Street. Catalano had lived at Twilite Manor since 2012, Fisher said.
Catalano’s cause of death is unknown, Fisher said. He was found unresponsive at about 10 a.m., Fisher said.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
During an initial investigation by the coroner’s office and the Cayce Police Department, a housekeeper at Twilite Manor told investigators that no medical staff or any other facility personnel had been present since before 7 a.m.
Having no medical staff was one “grave concern” among others that prompted the department to take the residents of Twilite Manor into emergency custody and to find them new housing.
“We knew their well-being was in imminent danger,” the department said in a statement Saturday. “Our officers were saddened to see their living conditions and took action to get them the medical and other assistance they needed. We will continue to work with (the state’s departments of health and social services) and each of their families to ensure that the proper care and attention is provided to each one of them.”
Also on Friday, another resident of the facility was taken to an area hospital for an unspecified medical condition, investigators said. That person’s condition was not immediately known.
No professional was at the facility to give residents assistance, the department said. Some of the residents are blind, mentally ill and “completely unable to care for themselves even in the most basic ways.”
The coroner’s office and Cayce police continue to investigate the death.
The remaining 13 people who were living at Twilite Manor have been moved in with family members or at other facilities based on their care needs, the department said.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control regulates assisted living facilities.
If police determine a living situation to be unsafe, they’re able to place people in emergency custody. After police take people into emergency custody, the Department of Social Services finds new housing for people.
This story was originally published February 19, 2022 at 9:27 AM.