A Travis County grand jury has indicted Harvest Renaissance LLC, operators of the Renaissance Austin Assisted Living Facility, and two of its former employees for criminal negligence in the death of Cynthia Pierce, a 73-year-old resident who died of hypothermia during Winter Storm Uri. District Attorney José Garza told the Chronicle that the criminal indictments are the first he’s aware of to come out of the 2021 ice storm, which caused power outages across Texas and an estimated 250 deaths.
“I think this case is a small snapshot of what so many people experienced all over the county and all over the state during the storm,” Garza said. “There were so many stories of courage and compassion. But there were also stories of neglect, and this is one of those.”
According to a report from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission obtained by the Chronicle, Renaissance Austin lost power to parts of its facility during the storm and some residents were left for a time in freezing rooms. In an interview with the Chronicle, Pierce’s daughter, Holly Ferguson, and two of her sisters, Beth Pierce and Rev. Terry Pierce, said they learned from an HHSC investigator that Renaissance’s staff cleaned Pierce with cold water on the morning of Feb. 17, 2021. The HHSC report said a staff member left a window of Pierce’s room open, while temperatures outside were in the 20s. Pierce was later found unresponsive in her bed. She was transported to a hospital where she died.
Sam Bassett, the attorney for the two former Renaissance employees, said in a statement that the 2021 ice storm was an unprecedented event but that his clients took extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of the facility’s residents and fully cooperated with the investigation into the case.
“There were so many stories of courage and compassion. But there were also stories of neglect, and this is one.” – District Attorney José Garza
“Though the passing of one of their residents was tragic and my clients’ hearts go out to her family, it was through no fault of their own and certainly NO CRIME was committed,” Bassett wrote. “It is disappointing that the District Attorney’s Office obtained a grand jury indictment given the unprecedented weather circumstances. Rest assured, my clients will plead not guilty and fight for the truth to be revealed.”
Joshua Saegert, the attorney representing Harvest Renaissance, issued a brief statement to the Chronicle: “We are aware that charges have been filed against the company and its former employees regarding an event that occurred during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the resident, and we will continue to work with local authorities.”
Ferguson said Pierce was “an absolute, total Austinite” who first moved to the city in the early 1970s. She described how her mother made a late-life career change, quitting her job as a systems analyst to enroll in Latin, Greek, and classical literature courses at UT. Mother and daughter traveled to Greece to see where the ancient stories took place.
“We went to Mycenae – I’m not sure if I’m pronouncing that right – but it was really just rocks on the ground,” Ferguson said. “She paced it out and showed where all the rooms were and told the whole story of the Trojan War in incredible detail. She was really brilliant, fierce, determined, independent – and funny, very funny.”
Ferguson, her mother, and her aunts researched assisted living centers around Austin, as Pierce developed dementia in her 60s. They chose Renaissance because it was set among live oaks in North Austin, comforting terrain for Pierce, and because of the professionalism of the staff. Pierce entered the facility in 2019. Ferguson spoke with her daily on the phone, including during the first days of Winter Storm Uri. She said these conversations gave her no clue that the facility was struggling with power outages. Pierce’s sister, Terry, said if the family had known, they would have sent her son, who had a four-wheel-drive truck, to pick Pierce up.
“The first time that I heard anything about mom having problems, or having to have the EMS called for her, was from the ER doctor at the hospital, asking if mom had a do-not-resuscitate order in place,” Ferguson said. An hour after that first call, Ferguson received another, asking if there was anything she wanted to say to her mother. “It was such a kindness that has helped me so much through this grieving process. And I think I kept them on the phone for about 20 minutes.”
Garza said he contacted the Austin Police Department last year after learning about the case from Pierce’s family and found they were already investigating it. “We are really grateful to the Austin Police Department,” Garza said. “This is not the typical kind of case that lands on their desk, or ours. And they took it very seriously and did a really thorough investigation and because of the investigation that APD did, and because the family was willing to speak up, we were able to present that evidence to a grand jury.”
This article appears in September 12 • 2025.
