May 21, 2019-State To Pay $8M After Pleas To Help Man With Special Needs Went Unanswered

SEATTLE — Vernon Gray was living with rats when a social worker showed up to his Central District home, where a layer of garbage coated the floor and a squalid odor caused people to gag when they stepped onto the property.

That was in 2009, when the state’s Adult Protective Services received its first report about him. Gray, who has a developmental disability, had been living in the house alone since his mother died in 2000. Neighbors begged the state to intervene, explaining he was unable to take care of himself. They continued after Gray became homeless in 2013.

Adult Protective Services (APS) investigated Gray’s situation three times since 2009, but each time, he was left on his own. Read more