Idaho man died after he was burned in a hot bath. Now his caretaker will serve time
A caregiver prosecutors accused of scalding a disabled Boise man so severely that he died was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
Omar Hamadi, 28, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death. A 4th Judicial District judge in Ada County sentenced him to half the jail time prosecutors requested — and gave him flexibility for serving that time.
On May 16, 2019, Hamadi gave his patient, Benjamin Reed, a scalding hot bath at Reed’s Boise home after he soiled himself. Reed, 38, of Boise, had Huntington’s disease. Hamadi had been hired to act as his caregiver.
Eleven days later, Reed died in the burn unit of a hospital in Salt Lake City. Boise police found that Reed had severe burns on 30% of his body, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting.
Hamadi delayed calling 911, prosecutors say
Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Tanner Stellmon said that Hamadi ran colder water once he realized Reed was being burned. But Stellmon said Hamadi also delayed calling emergency medical services and “was more concerned with the impact this might have on him personally” than with the impact on Reed.
Prosecutors also played a recording of the incident, during which Hamadi could be heard saying, “You smell like sh--,” and telling Reed to get in the shower, while Reed cried and moaned. Defense attorney Jon Cox explained during the hearing that there had been a nanny cam in the home.
“Ben was burned so badly that, in conjunction with his condition of Huntington’s Disease, he did not recover,” Stellmon said. He asked Judge Peter Barton to impose a jail sentence of at least six months.
Roommate caused ‘terrible accident,’ defense says
Cox said the incident was a “terrible accident.” He blamed Reed’s roommate, Joseph Ribich — who has since been sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing a child — for turning up the hot water heater the night before Reed was burned. Hamadi did not know how hot the water was, Cox said. Ribich had told Hamadi not to call 911 before calling him “because he had a house of ill repute,” Cox added.
Cox asked Barton to consider a sentence of withheld judgment, which means that once a sentence is complete, it could be removed from a person’s record. He said Hamadi, who now lives in California, has a family and a full-time job.
Barton rejected that idea but gave Hamadi a shorter sentence than Stellmon wanted. He ordered Hamadi to serve 90 days in jail, but over six months in increments as short as 48 hours. He also sentenced him to 10 years probation, with three years fixed and seven indeterminate. And he forbade Hamadi from working as a caretaker, guardian, or health care industry worker during that probation.
Just before he read the sentence, Barton gave Hamadi an opportunity to say something. Hamadi’s reply was very brief: ”I just want to issue an apology to the family, and that’s all I have for now.”
