PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- The license of a state group home remains suspended after the death of a staff member who collapsed from a heart attack while trying to restrain a 19-year-old resident.
Brent Thomas, 46, who worked at the Oakmont group home on North Bend Street in Pawtucket, grabbed Nathaniel Martinez as the young man tried to flee on Nov. 5.
The Pawtucket police charged Martinez with involuntary manslaughter, but the attorney general's office dismissed the charge Feb. 7 after the state medical examiner determined that Thomas died from a heart condition and cocaine abuse.
The Oakmont group home is licensed by the Department of Children, Youth and Families and operated by the Blackstone Valley Youth and Family Collaborative, which had no prior record of any licensing action, Kevin Aucoin, DCYF deputey director, said Thursday.